Aaron Rodgers and Kenny Stills are among the few who have spoken publicly about their use of psychedelics for mental health purposes. But a future where the treatment is more widespread across sports may not be so far away.
NBA agent Daniel Poneman is a touch nervous to disclose his past drug use to a reporter or even talk about that of pro athletes across sports leagues.
“Some people still look at it as something that crazy hippies do or something your parents did at Woodstock and don’t recognize these as legitimate, life-saving medical medicines,” Poneman says. “There are athletes that I know who have had life-changing experiences with these medicines, but only a few of them are brave enough to speak out for fear of being stigmatized.”
Even five or 10 years ago, you might have assumed that Poneman was talking about medicinal cannabis. But its acceptance in sports has grown tremendously of late: For the last two seasons, the NBA, for example, has not randomly tested its athletes for cannabis use. The NFL no longer tests for cannabis in the offseason and has downgraded potential discipline from suspensions to fines in season.
Poneman is talking about psychedelics, which are in line to be destigmatized next, experts say—in society at large and maybe also even in pro sports. More former professional athletes have been speaking up in recent years about their psychedelics use as a salve for mental illness (e.g., depression, PTSD).
