LOS ANGELES – Whether it involves a joint, an edible or yet another cannabis product, it will be a Super Bowl first.
On Sunday, some fans will walk into a marijuana dispensary, such one less than two miles from SoFi Stadium.
Inside, they’ll find not only pre-rolled joints, but cannabis-infused edibles, cannabis-drinks and cannabis-infused candy, possibly available in the team colors of the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
Then, without a medical marijuana card or fear of arrest, fans at least 21 can purchase cannabis from the licensed dispensary and be part of football history.
This will be the first Super Bowl played in a state where recreational marijuana is legal.
State voters approved the required proposition in November 2016, and the Los Angeles area in particular has become a thriving market for the legal sale and consumption of recreational marijuana.
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There are two licensed dispensaries within two miles of SoFi Stadium that sell recreational cannabis, and there are about 200 such dispensaries in Los Angeles County. They go by names like SkyhighLa, Puff Los Angeles and LA Wonderland Marijuana, and Pineapple Express is among several retailers offering home and hotel delivery.
Is it any wonder Snoop Dogg, the weed enthusiast and rapper, is one of the scheduled Super Bowl halftime performers this year?
Ricky Williams, the retired NFL running back and winner of the 1998 Heisman Trophy, has used the occasion to relaunch his personal brand of cannabis called “Highsman.” (Get it? If not, you may have had too many edibles.) One of Williams’ business partners sells a strain of cannabis called “Sticky Ricky.’’
The image of Marshawn Lynch, the former NFL star, has been featured in ads for Gorilla RX, a dispensary in Los Angeles. “Stock Up For Superbowl,’’ the online ad recommends.
“The bud Bowl,’’ one cannabis provider is calling Super Bowl 56. That’s bud as in the flowering marijuana bud that Snoop likes to smoke, not the old Budweiser Bud Bowl Super Bowl ad campaign.
The bud Bowl basics: Recreational marijuana became legal in California in 2016. Marijuana and cannabis are interchangeable terms.
CBD, the extract from a marijuana plant without the psychoactive compound, is sold in oils and creams and widely marketed as a pain reliever. THC, by contrast, is the extract that can get you higher than an NFL punt and is the main draw for the licensed marijuana dispensaries.
The NFL has offered no direct comment on the so-called bud Bowl, other than to confirm marijuana remains on the league’s list of “restricted’’ products, which means it will not be for sale or advertised at games or during broadcasts.
Meaning, your favorite Super Bowl commercial this year will not involve a blunt or a bong despite the intersection of the big game and legal cannabis.
“It is pretty special, even though the NFL has elected not to allow us to have a role at all in the Super Bowl,’’ said Marie St. Fleur, acting executive director and CEO of the National Association of Cannabis Businesses. “It is exciting that there is a conversation about the cannabis industry happening.’’
The NFL is big business, with the league having generated $16 billion in 2019 and more than $10 million during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cannabis is even bigger business.
Fueled by the legalization of marijuana in states like California, sales of legal recreational cannabis in the United States are on track to hit $25 billion a year in 2025, up from $7.4 billion in 2019, according to Statista.
Sales of legal recreational cannabis sales in 2021 approached $15 billion, according to Statista.
Last year, as part of a collectively bargained change in policy, players were not drug tested for THC between April 20 and Aug. 9. That gave NFL players an unprecedented four-month window to use marijuana without risk of a suspension.
Then, On Feb. 1, the NFL announced it is awarding $1 million to medical researchers to study the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players.
Williams, the retired running back, said cannabis has helped him with social anxiety and depression and praised the NFL for funding the research.
“I mean, we can complain about it only being $1 million,’’ said Williams, the retired running back who was suspended five times during his NFL career for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. “What is that, like a fourth-string quarterback money? But the NFL is pretty much saying they’re moving in a (new) direction, and I think it’s definitely going to create some goodwill with the players and probably other industries, not only sports, are paying attention.’’
Though Williams expressed no anger about the suspensions and the millions of dollars he lost as a result, he did say he thinks some of the league old policies around drug use were racist.
“I think it’s time to start taking a look at that and making some changes and it feels like the NFL’s on that path,’’ Williams said.
On Saturday, Williams was scheduled to attend the massive annual Super Bowl party sponsored by Leigh Steinberg, the sports agent whose guest list included Adam Sandler, Kelsey Grammer and members of the cannabis industry.
Tim Dodd, owner of cannabis retailer Sweet Flower, planned to attend as the party’s exclusive cannabis sponsor and bring with him representatives from three cannabis brands.
“We’re really trying to destigmatize and normalize the use of cannabis,’’ Dodd said. “This all seems to be coming together, especially for Los Angeles.’’
But there was a hitch during preparations for the party, set to be held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
Sony representatives said they did not want the cannabis products on the lot, so partygoers would have to pick up their gift bags at Sweet Flower – conveniently located 300 feet across the street from the studio lot, Dodd said.
Steinberg emphasized that he would comply with Sony’s wishes and that his concern for the health and well-being of players led him to allowing cannabis industry reps at his party.
“Look, the biggest danger to this country in the drug sense is opioid addiction,’’ Steinberg said, “and football’s the sport that has endless injuries and endless pain. I’ve had players come out of the hospital after injuries addicted to opioids. I think we need to explore a real alternative to that.’’
Of course, Steinberg understood that some of his partygoers might want cannabis for more than medicinal purposes.
“Look, I was student vice president at Berkeley in the ‘60s, all right?’’ he said. “I get it.’’
The sale and consumption of cannabis is prohibited at SoFi Stadium, but industry experts speculated that some fans would arrive with edibles or vapes to discreetly consume the goods. Ricky Williams, however, planned to be somewhere else – at a private Super Bowl party in the Los Angeles area.
“We’re going to be enjoying some ‘Sticky Ricky’ and good football,’’ he said.
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