Tidal Health Solutions Ltd. has been named the exclusive supplier of medicinal marijuana and related education for the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA).

The union represents current and former athletes within the American Hockey League, the professional rung just below the National Hockey League, and the ECHL, formerly the East Coast Hockey League. The certified union represents more than 1,600 players on teams based in both Canada and the U.S.

Recognizing the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis products for current and retired athletes in the Alumni Network, which numbers 8,000-plus, Tidal Health Solutions reports the agreement represents the first time a professional sports union has partnered with a cannabis company.

The newly inked multi-year contract means Tidal Health Solutions becomes the exclusive supplier of cannabis and cannabis-derived products, as well as related education for the PHPA. Specifically, the company reports that current players and retired athletes will gain access to its “medical cannabis products, educational resources and information around use of cannabis with emphasis on safety, reduction of other pain medications and regulatory issues.”

PHPA executive director Larry Landon says members look forward to working with Tidal Health Solutions to provide active members and alumni “with education around the appropriate use of cannabis products that have been developed for the medical and wellness markets as a potential way to manage pain.”

Tidal president and CEO Mark Burton says that he welcomes the chance to help these elite athletes “understand and benefit from the medical use of cannabis.”

Just last month, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) signed a similar CBD plus education deal with Love Hemp Group PLC, a five-year agreement in which the company has been named the official global CBD partner of UFC.

Tidal president and CEO Mark Burton says that he welcomes the chance to help these elite athletes “understand and benefit from the medical use of cannabis.” / PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

Through the partnership, Love Hemp will also have a link to the UFC Performance Institute, which provides programs that support mixed martial arts athletes “with all their development, fight preparation, and rehabilitation requirements,” notes the institute website.

At a conference two years ago, Robert Frid, a former professional hockey player and executive director of Medicinal My Way, also noted that cannabis has an important role to play in helping former athletes “cognitively and functionally.” Noted Frid: “We need to really start to look back at using it actively,” Frid argued, pointing out that some athletes “played through concussions and with concussions,” but now have questions about the long-term effects.

As per research in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine in 2018, “Although cannabis use is more prevalent in some athletes engaged in high-risk sports, there is no direct evidence of performance-enhancing effects in athletes. The potential beneficial effects of cannabis as part of a pain management protocol, including reducing concussion-related symptoms, deserve further attention.”

And authors of a study published in 2019 reported that “athletes who use a combination of THC and CBD exhibited the most benefit to well-being and calm with minimal adverse effects.”