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Former NFL star Jim McMahon recently claimed that medical marijuana served as antidote to his deep-seated addiction to prescription painkillers to ease the chronic pain he developed as a result of the injuries he sustained during his long football career.

At 56, McMahon has been constantly dealing with a string of health problems after ending his 15-year professional football career. Following his 1997 retirement, he has been struggling with early-onset dementia, vision problems, speech difficulties, and memory loss.

Before he got unhooked from prescription drugs, McMahon reportedly took as many as 100 pills a month to relieve himself of the pain in various parts of his body. When medical marijuana was legalized in Arizona, where he resides, in 2010 via popular referendum, the former footballer ditched narcotic painkillers for weed.

"They [pain medication] were doing more harm than good. This medical marijuana has been a godsend. It relieves me of the pain - or thinking about it, anyway," remarked the ex-Chicago Bears quarterback as quoted saying by Daily Mail.

Currently, McMahon is campaigning for marijuana-based medication in Illinois as the State government mulls on adding new conditions eligible for medical marijuana coverage as reported by Chicago Tribune. But Illinois lawmakers are wary of the potential cannabis abuse beyond the prescribed medical use.

A growing number of states across the US have started to adopt an increasingly progressive stance on the use of marijuana for medical purposes amid a plethora of conflicting researches regarding its pros and cons.

Nevertheless, McMahon's story and the countless experience of other NFL players might compel NFL to revise its position concerning the legal use of medical cannabis in the future. It can be recalled that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made a statement back in 2014 that the league 'will consider' following a thorough examination of facts and other recent developments as mentioned by Chicago Sun-Times.