Vanity Fair: Chiefs' Travis Kelce Estimates 50-80 Percent of NFL Players Use Cannabis

As the NFL continues to invest in studies about the effects of cannabis as a pain-management tool, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce believes a majority of players are already using the drug.

Per Tom Kludt of Vanity Fair, Kelce estimated anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of NFL players use some form of cannabis.

The eight-time Pro Bowler spoke about it when discussing how easy it is to pass the league's marijuana policy: "If you just stop in the middle of July, you're fine. A lot of guys stop a week before and they still pass because everybody's working out in the heat and sweating their tail off. Nobody's really getting hit for it anymore."

As part of the new collective bargaining agreement ratified in March 2020, the NFL eliminated suspensions for a positive marijuana test, and the testing period is limited to the first two weeks of training camp. The league also adjusted the threshold for a positive test from 35 to 150 nanograms of THC.

The NFL's updated marijuana policy came as several states across the country either legalized the drug altogether or decriminalized using it.

On Feb. 1, 2022, the NFL announced it was awarding $1 million in research funding to medical research teams at the University of California San Diego and University of Regina to "investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively."

Last week, the league and NFL Players Association committed $526,525 to independent medical researchers at the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN) and Emory University. The grants will be used to investigate "innovative, first-of-their-kind, alternative pain management methods that could benefit NFL players, and society at large."

One of the studies included in the research investigation is the effects of CBD on alleviating concussion symptoms and "mindfulness-based intervention in sports medicine injuries."

Kelce's estimate of the number of players who use cannabis is on the low end compared to previous estimates that have been made. Former tight end Martellus Bennett said in 2018 he felt "about 89 percent" of NFL players were using it.