Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlines when he admitted to using the powerful psychedelic ayahuasca. Fortunately for Rodgers, while the substance is considered a Schedule I drug by federal law, there is no NFL rule preventing Rodgers from using ayahuasca. Effectively, the NFL has given Rodgers the green light to continue his psychedelic experiment.
According to ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio, the primary psychoactive ingredient in ayahuasca, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is “not a problem under NFL law.”
During a recent podcast appearance, Rodgers made the shocking revelation that he experiments with ayahuasca “every blue moon” in order to clear his mind. Florio indicates there was an “effort by the league to place him in the drug-testing program,” though they ultimately backed off considering Rodgers didn't break any NFL rules.
Ayahuasca is described as a South American psychoactive brew that is consumed both socially and spiritually. Rodgers indicated that his use of the substance was spiritual in nature. Consuming ayahuasca can cause powerful hallucinations.
Rodgers openly credited the drug for helping him reach the level he's currently at in his NFL career.
“For me, I didn't do that and think ‘oh, I'm never playing football again,'” Rodgers said on the Aubrey Marcus podcast. “No, it gave me a deep and meaningful appreciation for life. My intention the first night going in was ‘I want to feel what pure love feels like.' That was my intention. And I did. I really did. I had a magical experience with the sensation of feeling a hundred different hands on my body imparting a blessing of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life from what seemed to be my ancestors.”
Aaron Rodgers' explanation of his experience shines some light onto just how intense of a drug ayahuasca is, but considering he isn't breaking any NFL rules with his consumption of the substance, the league should have no qualms over his off-field activities, as bizarre as they may be.