A recent Washington University School of Medicine study discussed the use, or rather misuse, of painkillers by current and former NFL players. The study, commissioned by ESPN’s Outside the Lines, found that 52 percent of former players used prescription pain meds during their active days, and 15 percent of that group admitted to misusing drugs in the last month.
“That’s a very large number in a population that, at that age, we wouldn’t expect to see much use of these substances at all,” Compton said. “Most typical 30- and 40-year olds aren’t taking pain relievers, and they’re not misusing them, so that’s a much higher than expected rate.”
One of the study’s main sources of antidotal information was friend-of-the-site, former Ram and Chief, and master of the homeless guy chic look, Kyle Turley:
Turley said it was commonplace to find comfort in the form of two Miller Lites. But the real relief, Turley said, would come when members of the Saints’ medical staff routinely handed out the prescription painkiller Vicodin on the flights home.
“The trainers and the doctors used to go down the aisle and say, ‘Who needs what?’” Turley said. “If you had something hurting and needed a painkiller to take the edge off so you could sleep that night, they made sure you had it.”
Turley was interviewed on the ESPN Outside the Lines program Sunday morning by Bob Ley. When the questioning turned to Turley’s current method of self-medication, things got awesome: (The clip has been transcribed below, but if you’re at home skipping work because you’re afraid of the snow, click here to see the clip.)
Ley: Is it fair to say that at times or how often you may have used more than prescribed than over the counter medication?
Turley: I try to keep things personally more on the…uh…alternative medical thing. I don’t really believe in all these pain killers they prescribe people. It’s unfortunate we allow these doctors to create these chemicals and put (them) in our bodies and yet a simple thing like a plant that grows out of the ground is continuing to be illegal when it provieds a number of medical uses and relief for individuals pain and all kinds of other ailments…and, you know, I try to think that life can be better as long as I take care of myself and allow nature to help me…
Ley: Can I assume…the plant you’re referring to is…is cannabis right?
Turley: …uh yes. That would be the one Bob.
Oddly, Kyle was red-eyed in front of a gold curtain for the entire interview. Only after the cameras were turned off did we get a peak and what was back there…
Phish concert. Figures.
You can hear more from Turley at Gridiron Records.com