Oilers captain McDavid supports marijuana/CBD use in the NHL

Effective at midnight last night the purchase and and consumption of marijuana and its derivatives is now fully legal in Canada. While the plant has been legal for medicinal purposes in Canada for awhile, the recreational use of it is now fully legal. With seven NHL clubs in Canada, it remains to be seen what sort of impact the new law (or lack thereof) has in Canada, but NHL superstars like Connor McDavid, Mark Scheifele and Matt Duchene expect that several of their peers will explore treatment options.

"It was so tainted for a long time," Duchene said just yesterday. "And now people are starting to learn a little bit more about it and there is definitely some positive uses to different elements of it."

"I played in Colorado where it was legal for a while and I thought it was going to change society a little bit, and it didn't, really," Duchene said. "I don't think it's going to be as big a thing as people might think."

 "There's not a lot of science out there yet in terms of long-term effects," said Scheifele, who still hasn’t made up his mind if it’s something he’d like to explore or not. "I think it's something that still needs to be thought really clearly about in terms of understanding the long-term effects."

But, what does the biggest star in the NHL think of using marijuana to help with rest and recovery? What’s McDavid’s stance on the now legal drug?

"I say this more talking about the CBD side of it, obviously: You'd be stupid not to at least look into it," the Oilers captain said. "When your body's sore like it is sometimes, you don't want to be taking pain stuff and taking Advil all the time. There's obviously better ways to do it. ... You're seeing a lot of smart guys look into it. You're seeing a lot of really smart doctors look into it. If all the boxes are checked there and it's safe and everything like that, then I think you would maybe hear them out."

While McDavid stopped short of saying that he'd be open to using marijuana or CBD to help in his own recovery, it's liberating to see NHL superstars like him taking such a open minded view to this new legislation. Old Time Hockey means licking your wounds and drowning out the pain in alcohol at the end of the night. Maybe, just maybe those days are passing us by?