Joseph M. Hanna, chair of the firm’s Sports and Entertainment practice, was quoted in an article for Leafly discussing the possibility professional sports leagues eventually removing cannabis from their list of banned substances.

In “Pro Athletes Eager To Embrace Cannabis, But Are Leagues Listening?” Joe talks about the view of cannabis by the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Professional Golf Association (PGA) as a banned substance, but believes that for the players purpose, cannabis should be reconsidered.

“The statistics are staggering when it comes to the number of professional athletes who have used opioids and are dependent on them,” Joe said. “The opioid epidemic is a national crisis. Cannabis could be a safer alternative.”

Read the full article here:

• “Pro Athletes Eager To Embrace Cannabis, But Are Leagues Listening?” Leafly, September 25, 2019

More about Goldberg Segalla’s Joseph M. Hanna:

With a national practice and industry-wide reputation for leadership, Joe is consistently ranked among the top 10 attorneys based in Western New York in Business First’s annual Legal Elite, and in 2015, Joe was the youngest honoree ever to be named Lawyer of the Year in the Bar Association of Erie County’s 130-year history. Joe is also a leading voice for diversity in the legal and business communities. He is chair of Goldberg Segalla’s Diversity Task Force and has held multiple leadership roles in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) as well as diversity-related positions within the American Bar Association (ABA), DRI, and other organizations.