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Rob Van Dam appeared in the lead story for the Thursday 5/6 edition of Vice News Tonight on the VICE TV channel to discuss his wrestling career and longtime advocacy for marijuana:
Billed as a former WWE Champion, Van Dam and the VICE News host Krishna Andavolu discuss the heights of RVD’s career in WWE, including his WWE Championship win over John Cena at One Night Stand 2006. They then covered Van Dam’s arrest for drug possession less than one month later which necessitated his loss of the WWE and ECW titles shortly afterward.
Van Dam admitted to Andavolu that he’s sometimes wondered how successful his wrestling career might have become had he not endured the drug arrest, though he feels comfortable with the path his life has taken since then.
Van Dam’s own CBD cannabis-based product line is mentioned, while both he and one of his wrestler trainees, Jai Vidal, promote the drug’s benefits for athletes- especially pain relief. Van Dam says his cannabis business venture was inspired after growing tired of losing friends in the wrestling business to overdose from opioids and suicide from depression.
The story brings up WWE’s Wellness Program and its $2,500 fine for testing positive for marijuana.
A phone interview with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura was included in the piece in which Ventura defends Van Dam’s advocacy for the benefits of marijuana and describes how, as governor, Ventura sought to legalize the drug in Minnesota.
Ventura explained how federal law can restrict legal usage of marijuana which, in turn, affects the drug policies of organizations with nationwide reach and corporate sponsorship like WWE. He also talked about wrestling for 63 nights consecutively during one point in his career to highlight the physical burden that wrestlers face and advocates the benefits of cannabis for sleep and pain relief.
WWE did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Vice TV and instead pointed them to their existing policies.
Vice News Tonight website: https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/show/vice-news-tonight-1-507
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