Nowadays, marijuana is undergoing a profound change in paradigms. With the different pro-420 movements taking place, including MoM Dispensaries, and the legalization of its use in countries such as Canada and Uruguay, marijuana is a consolidated household recreational and medicinal substance for mass consumption in today’s world, far from the marginalization it suffered years ago.
You can observe that many positions have changed as for this, and yet you may still find that in some other contexts the use of marijuana is prohibited, and dare we say vilified. A clear case of this phenomenon is the use of cannabis in sports competitions. There is a misconception that it benefits athletes in diverse ways, yet over time, further evidence strives to prove this concept erroneous.
Here we are going to explain to you why we think marijuana shouldn’t be banned, or at the very least, athletes shouldn’t be penalized for its use in moderate quantities as long as there is proper regulation for the substance.
Marijuana and Society
The cold, hard reality about marijuana use is that it has been frowned upon by modern society until recent years, when several countries have opted for legalizing consumption. What you may consider comical is that there are records of the use of marijuana that date to 2500 years ago!
The actual reason behind the legalization of cannabis and Phoenix Tears in different places mostly stems from the objective of regulation of its production, reduction of criminal activity, decreasing the access of the youth to marijuana, and tax reasons too. Yet you can find that despite all progress made, the stigma remains. Sports are no strangers to this either.
What’s the Matter with Sports and Marijuana?
What makes it increasingly difficult to make marijuana completely legal in competitions is the moral standpoint that most anti-doping organizations take. The problem is they sweep this issue under the rug, under the premise of it “going against codes of morale,” or marijuana consumption in athletes not being consistent with what a “good role model” should behave like.
While this side is being taken, the same organizations that forbid the use of marijuana in competitions are the same ones that actually permit alcohol consumption in athletes, a drug that too many can be considered in some case scenarios something even worse for athletic development than cannabis.
Even though anti-doping organisms have a strong proclivity for the penalization of marijuana during competition, mostly out of fear of public scrutiny, there seems to be a small beacon of hope on the horizon. According to Wikipedia, as of 2013 the World Anti-Doping Agency, also known as WADA, increased the limit of 15 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL the level of THC allowed in urine during competition. This action resulted in much fewer tests failing for THC metabolites.
This only evidences that marijuana is not necessarily a vehicle for substance abuse, but a way for many athletes to relieve stress during competition without seeking to obtain direct performance benefits out of it.
