EUGENE,OR – DECEMBER 03: Fans of the Oregon Ducks cheer on their team during the game against … [+]
A new survey from Pickswise found that University of Oregon fans earned the award for the most cannabis-friendly college football fanbase, with 57.14% of respondents saying they indulge in adult-use cannabis at least once per month.
Pickswise focuses primarily on analysis of college football statistics for bettors, with additional data spanning across most major sports associations such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and so on.
Most recently, Pickswise granted 22 recognitions for the Power Five Fandom MVP Awards to college football fanbases. It features awards ranging from the Biggest Tailgaters (University of South Carolina) to the Most Rabid Fanbase (Arizona State University)—highlighting the individual characteristics of each fanbase. To do this, they surveyed over 3,000 football fans. But it was University of Oregon that won the “Biggest Potheads MVP Award” from Pickswise.
“We were interested to learn more about the particular hobbies, habits, and quirks of college football fanbases, so last month we surveyed 3,200 college football fans across all power five fandoms,” says Andrew Wilsher, Managing Editor of Pickswise.
Pickswise offers tools for college football bettors including picks, best bets, parlays, analysis, futures, and odds.
Things are changing in cannabis in college sports for the athletes as well. An NCAA panel increased the THC threshold for a positive test and recommended dropping cannabis from the banned list. At its Feb. 22-23, 2022 meeting, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) increased the THC threshold and recommended a reconfiguration of the penalty structure for student-athletes who test positive for THC. CSMAS aligned with THC threshold levels established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), raising the threshold for student-athletes from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter.
But particularly in Eugene, Oregon—historically a safe haven for progressive cannabis laws—Ducks fans consume more cannabis than any other college football fanbase, based on this analysis.
“The state of Oregon was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana, so it’s not overly surprising that they’ve edged out fanbases from states where it’s not a legal recreational activity,” Wilsher continues. The state of Oregon was also one of the first to decriminalize cannabis in 1973.
Oregon fans are gearing up to cheer on Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix and wide receiver Troy Franklin. The return of Nix and “sky-high expectations in Eugene” have Ducks fans on cloud nine, Pickswise representatives said.
Oregon-based fans also netted a second Power Five Fandom MVP Award: Nearby, Oregon State fans in Corvallis scored the MVP Award for the Most LGBTQ Fans, with 39% of the fanbase identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Cannabis also being used for medical purposes among the players themselves, in colleges and in the NFL. Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson and former NFL lineman Rob Sims partnered with Harvard University in 2019 to examine the efficacy of cannabis for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and the management of pain.
The NFL announced in February 2022 a $1 million award in research funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and University of Regina. Their studies will investigate the efficacy of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively.
Pickswise sheds light on the individual quirks college fanbases have, and Oregon remains a progressive stronghold including resident views about pot.
