PDA

View Full Version : Val Venis Talks Cannabis, WWE Wellness Program, & More



Kemo
01-19-2016, 06:20 PM
NfqQrNRZ8wY

Sean Morley, best known for his WWE run as Val Venis, was the latest guest on the increasingly prolific Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. In the last few years, Morley has become an advocate for the legalization of cannabis, even taking up the alter ego of “Kaptain Kannabis,” so that was one of many topics covered in the interview. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

Using Medical Marijuana In Light Of his Friends Dying From Pain Meds:

“I was still taking pharmaceutical drugs and was always on pain pills and every time I got injured, whether it was my elbows, my neck, my shoulder I would always go back to what the doctor would prescribe me and that was anti inflammatories and still my friends were dying from it. As time went on I started to notice that we have been lied to about this plan and my friends are dying left, right and center from big pharmaceutical pills and I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when one of my best friends, Andrew “Test” Martin passed away from pharmaceutical pain meds.

That’s when I said okay enough is enough and that’s when I really took a stand, came off the pills and I didn’t have to go to rehab. My body was addicted to the pills and did have to go through two weeks of horrible withdrawals. But the second week of those withdrawals I started utilizing marijuana on the advice of a friend. It didn’t get rid of the sickness of the withdrawals but what it did was make the withdraws bearable. It made it easy to just wait out the withdrawals and when I came out on the other end I never looked back and that was in 2008.”

How WWE’s Talent Wellness Program Handles Marijuana vs. Prescription Narcotic Painkillers:

“To me it’s not a stringent Wellness Policy at all. I could drive a Mack Truck through their Wellness Policy. The reality of the situation is I was on those pills and I was testing positive for those pills yet I passed my drug test every single time. The reason I passed my drug test every single time was because as soon as I’d test positive for Hydrocodone, Dr. Black from [Aegis Sciences] who is the main Doctor at the testing facility would call me up and ask for a valid prescription for Hydrocodone pills. I would send him a valid prescription and two weeks later I would get a letter in the mail saying CONGRATULATIONS you passed your wellness exam.

The fact that you have a valid prescription for these pills doesn’t change the fact that people get addicted to them and die. Test had a prescription for them. Almost every wrestler has had a prescription for them. They don’t test for it, they say they test for the quantity of hydrocodone in your system. That’s bullsh*t, they don’t test for the quantity they test for the presence. Even though you may have a prescription for 90 (pills) you may have 1000 sitting in your house right now. The testing policy is a step in the right direction, but still we are allowing WWE talent to utilize Heroin in a pill, yet we will fine them $2,500 every time they test positive for THC.”

Why WWE Fines Talent For Using Marijuana:

“What they tell me is that they have to fine guys for pot because they are a corporation and they have to follow federal law. But what their actions are telling me is that WWE thinks it’s more important to follow federal law than the health and well being of it’s talent and that is a sad situation. Is it WWE’s fault? Probably not. I think the federal government has a huge hand in this. The federal government has to take a step forward and change the policy in regards to cannabis prohibition.

However, that being said, WWE is like the NFL and who is starting to explore the usage of marijuana as medical for the NFL players and I was hoping that WWE would stand up and take the lead on that. It’s WWE that’s lost more talent with these pills and it’s one of those things that WWE could easily stand up and say we understand cannabis is against Federal Law, however we’ve lost a lot of athletes to these big pharmaceutical drugs and if athletes want to use cannabis we are not going to punish them for it.”