Cannabis and Sports: Performance… Enhancement?
Sports and performance enhancing drugs or PED’s have a long, well documented, relationship. Since almost the inception of competitive sports athletes have gone to extreme lengths to gain any possible edge against their competition. But what happens when athletes consume illegal substances that do not necessarily improve their performance? What if that substance is legal in some places and not others and can last in your system far long after the time of consumption? Enter the complicated world of sports and cannabis use.
From Nate Diaz, a brutal cage fighter, to NFL player Ricky Williams, and even Olympians like Michael Phelps and Sha’Carri Richardson, there have been no shortage of athletes running into controversy for their use and support of cannabis as a harmless recreational drug with holistic properties akin to alcohol or over the counter medicine. Many of these athletes cite marijuana as a healthier alternative to alcohol that allows them to relax mentally. While the drug does have many medicinal benefits as well, such as being very good at fighting inflammation, there is no evidence for it having residual enhancing effects that would benefit the athlete on the field. In Nate Diaz’s case some argue the precise and calculated fighter may have even handicapped himself after deciding to light up before entering the ring.
Likely the first recorded incident of an athlete testing positive for cannabis was Warren Sapp. Sapp had come into the draft as a number one pick in 1995. After failing a drug test for cannabis he dropped to number thirteen. Sapp would still go on to play thirteen seasons in the NFL eventually becoming a Hall of Fame Player.
With the legalization of cannabis in many states, sports fans, athletes, and administrators have began to discuss the issue more openly. In 2011, the World Anti-Doping Agency published a paper in the Sports Medicine Journal that criticized the use of the drug in sports. They cited three reasons why cannabis should be a banned substance: it may impair or slow an athletes reaction time, it may be performance enhancing, and athletes should be positive role models for fans. Former offensive lineman Eben Britton may have supported these claims when he said in a 2016 interview, “NFL games I played stoned were some of the best games I ever played. Cannabis cements your surroundings,” Britton said in the article. “A lot of people say they’re useless when they smoke weed. But hell, I played NFL games [while stoned], dude. My performances were solid, and I felt really good after.”
More recent examples have become more nuanced. As previously stated marijuana is legalized in the U.S in certain states and not others. Many sport’s commissions operate on a national level making it hard for athletes to navigate the laws and rules based on local laws, league rules, and individual contracts. In 2021 Olympic track star Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for cannabis use. Richardson argued that her marijuana use was a therapeutic activity to help her cope with the recent loss of her mom. This has caused at least one agency, the World Anti-Doping agency, to review its classification of cannabis as a “substance of abuse.” Even more recently WNBA player Brittany Griner was detained in Russia after allegedly traveling to the country with a vape device that contained cannabis oil, also showing that the issue of cannabis and athletes goes beyond the realm of the sports they play. This speaks to the idea that athletes are role models and cannabis use is immoral, possibly creating a double standard when viewed in comparison to alcohol use and sports.
Sources:
Taylor, Sam. “Weed’s Bumpy History in Sports.” The Daily Evergreen, https://dailyevergreen.com/132866/sports/weeds-bumpy-history-in-sports/.
Staff, The Week. “Doping in Sport: Should Cannabis Be on the List of Banned Substances?” The Week UK, The Week, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/sport/954136/doping-in-sport-should-cannabis-be-on-the-list-of-banned-substances.
Staff, The Week. “Doping in Sport: Should Cannabis Be on the List of Banned Substances?” The Week UK, The Week, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/sport/954136/doping-in-sport-should-cannabis-be-on-the-list-of-banned-substances.
