When it comes to cannabis use in professional sports, the holistic medicine and recreational relaxation tool is still frowned upon across all of North America's major leagues. But while NFL and NBA players are routinely suspended and fined after drug tests turn up THC, athletes in pro baseball and the National Hockey League (NHL) are given significantly more leniency, with minor fines generally being the only consequence for failed cannabis tests. Everything is relative though, and as football and basketball players continue to call for their leagues to stop punishing players for treating pain and stress with CBD and THC, one former NHL pro is using his platform to call for even more cannabis reform in professional hockey, encouraging the league to embrace the plant as part of a healthy training and recovery regimen.

In a new interview with Canadian outlet Sportsnet, former Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Riley Cote details how prevalent cannabis use is in the NHL, and yet how much work still needs to be done before the hyper-violent league actually acknowledges weed as a solution, instead of a minor problem to be swept under the rug.