Al Harrington played at a time in the NBA when marijuana use was seemingly widespread around the Association. Harrington never partook, primarily because growing up, his grandmother — the rock of the family — preached sobriety.
Since retirement, Harrington has gone away from this mentality. The 16-year NBA veteran is now attempting to become a mogul in a marijuana industry that's rapidly growing around the United States.
Harrington, 38, will start a company aimed at pain relief for athletes. VIOLA will focus on the CBD aspect of marijuana — something that has seen a major uptick in popularity around the medical marijuana industry.
And his grandmother's illnesses have played a huge role in this.
“She suffered from glaucoma and diabetes...I was reading about all the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and I said that she should try it,” Harrington told Cheddar.Harrington's grandmother initially rejected the idea, but she started to feel much better after giving it an initial try. That right there is the entire point of CBD — a marijuana product that's low on THC and high on CBD. In short, it will not give the patient the feeling of being high. Instead, it's all about helping them with pain management. It has proven to be extremely effective in the past.
In Fact, the Indiana State House on Tuesday passed a bill, 93-0, that would make CBD oil legal, even if it does have some trace amounts of THC.
Harrington's goal is to help athletes themselves with pain management. The idea has been bandied about at great lengths around the NFL and NBA worlds. Former NFL player Eugene Monroe has become a major proponent of the league allowing the use of marijuana as an alternative to more dangerous Opioids (more on that here).
For Harrington, it's seemingly the same thing.
“Players should have access to...an alternative way of medicating themselves," Harrington said. "I’m a firm believer that if I had known this information that I know now, I probably could have played another three years in the NBA,” says Harrington.This all comes as nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use, including California, Nevada and Colorado. Medicinally, marijuana is legal in 29 states. The use of CBD is legal in a total of 48 states.
It will be interesting to see what comes of Harrington's venture. At the very least, his specific target audience — the NBA — seems to be a bit more progressive thinking than the NFL. That could help him get the word out more.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://snipdaily.com/2018/02/former-nba-player-looking-to-become-a-marijuana-mogul/