New York, NY--Elite and professional athletes participating in competitive sports must refrain from using certain medications and drugs to adhere to the "spirit of sport," as the Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) highlighted.
And while athletes can keep their cabinet free of anything ill to their reputation, it can be hard to draw the line with cannabinoids, primarily THC and CBD, that have gained massive popularity in the past decade and are only a little notorious when compared to many other substances of prohibited lists.
Already in mainstream alternative treatment options, CBD and THC have attached their name to pro athletes, too, most notably Brittney Griner, whom a Russian court sentenced nine years to prison after finding her guilty of deliberately bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges to Russia.
CBD has a better reputation compared to THC when it comes to what athletes are allowed to use. The decision was made at the beginning of 2018 when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed CBD from its prohibited substances list. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) followed, reinstating that only CBD was removed from the prohibited list.
THC remained on the prohibited substances list. "All natural and synthetic cannabinoids are prohibited, e.g.: In cannabis (hashish, marijuana) and cannabis products. Natural and synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THCs). Synthetic cannabinoids mimic the effects of THC. Except: Cannabidiol," the section from the rulebook said.
Athletes on a roll
Michael Phelps was banned from competing for three months after photos of the Olympia smoking marijuana were leaked online. John Capel tested positive for a second time and was banned in 2006. A BBC report also notes that Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati's gold medal was also taken away by the International Olympic Committee for testing positive.
But with the changing legal status of marijuana, its perception is also slowly changing in society. Many countries have decriminalized the substance, and more resources are being spent on research and development in this area.
There's ample cash flow in the setup, too. Earlier this year, Major Baseball announced it would allow teams to take sponsorships of CBD brands. The reasons, says MLB's chief revenue officer Noah Garden, are pretty simple. "You kind of take these new markets – blockchain is another good [example] – and you watch them; you don't jump in at the beginning when it's a wild, wild west, but you try to come in at a time where there's some separation between the companies that are here for the long term and the companies that [aren't]," he told The Drum.
Garden added, "With CBD specifically, we felt like we were reaching that point in time. And we had a lot of requests from CBD companies that were looking to invest in the sport, whether it was locally with a club or nationally with MLB."
It might just be a marketing opportunity for many key sportspeople. While the money around it might not disperse as quickly as with the cryptocurrency bubble, it remains to be seen if it becomes as mainstream as popular sports drinks and has some most famous faces endorsing it.
Retired entertainment athletes have started endorsing their own CBD lines, such as Kevin Nash working towards his product with a brand. There are others, too. Many would follow in the footsteps. Sports magazines that are banking advertising cash have already laid out the invitation.
Sports have an amplifying reputation. A research published in the Journal of Advertising — based on 52 papers — found that embedding ads with sports creates emotional bonding with brands, ultimately leading to sales. If done right, sports publishers could find a goldmine in advertising from CBD.
A parallel goldmine lies in THC, but it's a space most are hesitant about.
Drawing the line with THC
Some legal decisions around athletes consuming THC might not always make sense amid well-defined guidelines. The disqualification of American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson from the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo after her testing positive for marijuana raised many eyebrows.
The athlete's stand was one many of her contemporaries could well understand. She made it clear that she used the substance to deal with the news of the death of a parent and not to boost performance.
And while there is barely any scientific evidence proving that marijuana consumption at that capacity enhances performance, the decision came to "uphold the spirit of sport."
"[Richardson] was doing something legal in the state that she was in for reasons that, frankly, seemed perfectly understandable—to deny her the chance to compete at the highest level just seem to me absolutely ridiculous," Angela Bryan, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Scientific American. "I definitely think that [WADA] should take a look at more current evidence and reevaluate their position."
While debates rage around how harmful or beneficial a substance can be, many think banning cannabis is an unfair double standard, especially when compared to how alcohol flows in almost every setting.
Other professional sports have made up their mind. For example, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has allowed cannabis use except for instances when it's used for performance enhancement.
Different stands by athletic bodies might work in some capacity. Still, in the larger interest — both of an eager market and relief-seeking athletes — more data show flow in for cannabis research. America might be in the making for that — the sooner the step, the easier it would be to formulate ethical perceptions.