Ex-NFL star Ricky Williams on how cannabis use changed his mindset, helped him deal with anxiety

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Ricky Williams rushed for over 1,000 yards a year for five seasons with the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints in his career.

But the NFL also suspended Williams multiple times for testing positive for marijuana. While the suspensions hurt Williams' reputation in football, he has become a prominent advocate for cannabis use to treat pain and social anxiety.

The 44-year-old former All-Pro running back told Fox News Digital in a recent interview he started seeing the benefits of marijuana in 2002.

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Ricky Williams (34) of the Miami Dolphins is tackled by Paul Posluszny (51) and Reggie Corner (27) of the Buffalo Bills Dec. 19, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.  (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

"I guess I noticed after I failed a drug test in 2002 and the NFL said, ‘OK, now you’re going to be drug tested 10 times a month,'" Williams recalled. "So, obviously, I stopped smoking. I thought at the time it was no big deal. But when I stopped smoking, I noticed that I was taking more pain pills and I noticed that I was more anxious. 

"So, I started to continue to smoke just a little bit just to see if there was a difference. And, in that situation, I noticed there was a big difference — that I recovered faster, things didn’t bother me as much and it reflected in my performance.

"I was taking more painkillers because I was more aware of the pain that I was in. Back in 2002, especially outside of California, there was nobody really talking about medicinal marijuana. Especially in the NFL, most of the conversation about cannabis was, ‘Don’t do it because it’s a drug and you’ll get in trouble.’ I started