Bringing a Heisman Trophy to Ohio wasn’t enough for Troy Smith. Now the former Buckeye quarterback has his sights on bringing weed to his home state as well.
Smith has teamed up with Ted Ginn Sr., who coached Smith in high school and is the father of his ex-OSU teammate Ted Ginn Jr., and former Browns running back Eric Metcalf to apply for opening a medical marijuana dispensary.
Here’s the trio at Tuesday’s state hearing.
https://twitter.com/TomKnoxBiz1st/status/884786959977238529
This isn’t some random business venture for Smith, who suffered head trauma from years of playing football. Although Roger Goodell remains staunchly against allowing NFL players to use marijuana therapeutically, the league is studying the herb’s potential use as a pain-management tool. Former Dolphins star Ricky Williams said he thinks marijuana can ultimately save the NFL as a replacement for addictive painkillers, and Smith sees similar value in weed.
From Tom Knox of Columbus Business First:
“For me it’s definitely kind of simple,” Smith said. “The head trauma that I have been suffering since the age of 7 and not understanding back then what a migraine was, and understanding now the differences between the daily life and being a regular person and having that type of trauma being a part of your life – it’s black and white, you know. It makes sense.”
And from Cleveland.com’s Jackie Borchardt:
Smith said his own head trauma from years of playing football led him to look into medical marijuana and to pursue a business. Smith said he’s only now beginning to understand how banging his head against other players has affected his daily life.
“Sports is a great thing to watch when you’re snacking on chicken wings, but it’s dead serious we need to pay more attention to it and be more delicate,” Smith said, adding that he is certain medical marijuana can be helpful to people with brain injuries.
Ohio governor John Kasich signed the medical weed into law 13 months ago, and the medical marijuana program must be operational by September 2018. The state will be awarding 60 dispensary licenses later this year, and Smith, Ginn and Metcalf hope to get in on that in the Cleveland area. They’ve also partnered with Jim Buchanan, who owns a recreational marijuana store in Seattle.
[Columbus Business First | Cleveland.com]
