美国国家公共电台 NPR NFL Players Searching For Painkiller Choices Hope For Relaxed Marijuana Ban

NFL Players Searching For Painkiller¹ Choices Hope For Relaxed Marijuana Ban

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In several states, the question of whether marijuana should be legal was put to voters, and many voters said yes. Pot now is legal for recreational or medicinal use in more than half the country, but it is still against federal law. It's also still banned in professional sports. Many athletes hope that changes as marijuana support grows, especially in the NFL, where marijuana could offer a better way to manage the pain that often affects athletes. Here's NPR's Tom Goldman.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE⁴: Football hurts. As a fan watching, it's not always obvious. Players collide, fall down, pop back up, rarely wincing⁵ or showing weakness. It's the football way.

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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR⁶: And the offensive line - Orlando Pace and Kyle Turley.

GOLDMAN: In his eight NFL seasons beginning in the 1990s, offensive lineman Kyle Turley was involved in jarring collisions nearly every play when his team had the ball. He hurt after his career. He sometimes walks with a cane⁷. And in this video from last year, Turley displayed, one by one, bottles of the powerful painkillers⁸ he used.

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KYLE TURLEY: Vicodin, Flexeril, Percocet, Vioxx, morphine.

GOLDMAN: Turley says he became addicted⁹ to the drugs and thought about suicide. Then, last year, he quit the prescription¹⁰ painkillers and replaced them with marijuana.

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TURLEY: Just this right here. That's all you need to. That's about two hits.

GOLDMAN: The video is from a website for the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition¹¹. Turley helped start the group as a way to promote marijuana as a legal option for pain management in football. The effort may be gaining traction¹² as the country's acceptance of pot grows. George Atallah is an executive with the NFL Players Association. He says, in the next couple of weeks, the union will form a committee to examine pain issues for players.

GEORGE ATALLAH: Certainly, given some of the medical research that's out there, marijuana's going to be one of the substances that we take a look at.

GOLDMAN: As it should be, says pain specialist Daniel Clauw. He's a University of Michigan professor of anesthesiology who's studied cannabis in pain management for the past five years. He says it's no contest when you compare the safety of marijuana and the narcotic¹³ painkillers known as opioids that Kyle Turley and so many other NFL players have had to use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2014, more than 14,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids. Here's Dr. Clauw.

DANIEL CLAUW: You can't directly die from taking a cannabinoid the way tens of thousands of people are directly dying from opioids each year in the U.S.

GOLDMAN: Cannabinoids are the active components¹⁴ in marijuana. Dr. Clauw published a study this year showing cannabis also was more effective than opioids for managing chronic¹⁵ pain. Subjects in the study noted¹⁶ they felt a lot better using cannabis and experienced fewer side effects. Dr. Clauw says marijuana isn't the only option for pain relief, nor is it a perfect alternative to opioids.

Cannabis can be addictive¹⁷, although much less so than narcotic painkillers. The NFL bans marijuana and suspends a player after four violations¹⁸. A written statement from the league says it would be open to reconsidering its policy, which it collectively bargained with the union. But for now, the league's medical experts haven't recommended any changes.

CLAUW: I don't know where they're getting their medical experts.

GOLDMAN: Again, Dr. Clauw.

CLAUW: But I don't know hardly anyone in the pain field that would be able to support the position that the NFL is taking based on just scientific data.

GOLDMAN: When asked to provide one of its experts for an interview, an NFL spokesman said, quote, "they don't speak to the media." Meanwhile, the pro³ football season rolls on. The hurting continues. For players, the search continues for better and safer ways not to hurt. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

1 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 wincing   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She switched on the light, wincing at the sudden brightness. 她打开了灯，突如其来的强烈光线刺得她不敢睜眼。
• "I will take anything," he said, relieved, and wincing under reproof. “我什么事都愿意做，"他说，松了一口气，缩着头等着挨骂。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

7 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

8 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

10 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

13 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

14 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

15 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

18 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。