Players

Pain, Recovery, and Reform: Soccer Veterans Speak Out on Cannabis Use

As cannabis laws liberalize across North America, soccer is slowly joining other sports where athletes are pushing for change. Major League Soccer still follows World Anti-Doping Agency rules that ban THC in competition and treat marijuana as a prohibited substance, even while CBD is permitted and testing is framed increasingly around treatment rather than punishment. Yet an emerging group of former MLS and professional soccer players has stepped into the cannabis space, arguing that athletes deserve safer options than opioids and that legalization must be fair and inclusive.

A prominent example is Costa Rican winger Rodney Wallace, an MLS Cup winner who spent much of his career with the Portland Timbers and New York City FC. After hip problems nearly ended his career, Wallace turned to CBD to manage chronic pain and inflammation from years in MLS. That experience led him to launch Rewind by Rodney Wallace, a THC-free CBD line that includes oils, gummies, topicals, and even pet products geared toward recovery and everyday wellness. In interviews, Wallace describes CBD as a way for athletes to step away from heavy painkillers and toward plant-based relief, placing him among sports figures urging more rational cannabis policy.

On the business and advocacy side, former pro player Rachael Rapinoe has become one of the most influential figures linking soccer and cannabis reform. After a career that included professional stints in Europe, Rapinoe co-founded Mendi, a hemp-derived CBD brand designed for athlete recovery. She has been explicit that cannabis legalization should not just enrich large corporations; in her view, authentic reform must repair harms to patients, advocates, and communities disproportionately punished under prohibition. Mendi’s mission goes beyond selling gummies and tinctures: the company openly talks about “shifting sports cannabis culture forward” and normalizing cannabinoid use as a safer, science-backed alternative to traditional pain management.

Rachael’s twin sister, USWNT star Megan Rapinoe, is not an MLS alum but has amplified this movement from the global soccer stage. As Mendi’s flagship athlete ambassador, she has spoken about using CBD for pain, sleep, and travel recovery and about wanting to diversify the cannabis industry, end stigma, and help legalize CBD and cannabis while calling out how cannabis arrests have fallen hardest on people of color. Her visibility makes it harder for leagues, including MLS, to ignore the changing conversation around the plant.

These pioneers are emerging just as policies begin to budge. Analyses of North American sports note that MLS, while still aligned with WADA, has moved toward less punitive approaches to cannabis, emphasizing treatment over suspensions and opening the door to CBD partnerships and sponsorships. Commentators also point out that MLS players have become some of the most vocal advocates for reform among team-sport athletes, reflecting broader shifts toward acceptance in both locker rooms and fan bases.

Taken together, former MLS standouts like Rodney Wallace and ex-pros such as Rachael Rapinoe show how lived experience with injury, over-prescribed painkillers, and outdated drug rules can turn athletes into legalization advocates. They are not just selling products; they are arguing for a future in which players can choose cannabinoid-based care without risking their careers and in which legalization includes social justice as well as profit. For fans watching MLS grow alongside legal cannabis markets, these voices may prove decisive in how quickly the league and its players embrace the plant.