Generally, when people hear about someone smoking weed, the immediate thought that comes to their mind is a bunch of lazy slobs munching junk food while puffing away. However, contrary to popular belief, weed isn’t just reserved for the ‘lazy slobs’ rather it taken by a number of people including athletes to get more energy and improve their performance during a competition or the day.

The consumption of cannabis can affect athletes in different ways and contrary to popular belief, these effects aren’t necessarily counterproductive. In fact, there have been many scientific studies that prove the effectiveness of cannabis in improving performance. It is common knowledge that cannabis offers anti-inflammatory benefits. Due to its anti-inflammatory ability, cannabis is able to generate the same effect as endorphins and enlarge our pain threshold. For this reason, a person who consumes cannabis will take longer than the average person to tire during a race or a tough training session.

In addition to above, cannabis helps athletes to lower anxiety and improve mood. This in turn helps to improve their performance. According to a study by journal Sports Medicine, using cannabis can help people to relax prior to and after a competition. Moreover, cannabis lowers their anxiety levels and increases their well-being. And the effects of cannabis do not end there. By consuming cannabis, athletes can ensure that they sleep well during the night before race day. By minimizing their chances of waking up prematurely, cannabis enhances rest for athletes. Moreover, it removes the toxic substances in their body and repairs any small damaged parts. This allows the body of the athletes to feel fresh and work optimally on race day.

The Different Associations And Their Drug Control Policies

The first ever crackdown on weed came in 1999 when The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the association responsible for controlling drug use in Olympic events, banned cannabis. Considering the benefits cannabis offers, that was a terrible idea. Fortunately, over time, sense prevailed and in 2013, WADA increased the tolerable drug levels for Olympians from fifteen to 150 nanograms.

Screening athletes for Performance Enhancing drugs (PED’s) has always been difficulty for professional sports organizations. For example, the current acceptable threshold for drugs in the NFL is 35 nanograms per milliliter. Not so long, this was 15 ng/mL. The THC threshold of MLB is 50 ng/mL while WADA has a 150 nanograms standard. The discrepancy in acceptable drug levels shows that the authorities responsible for drug control in sports aren’t sure whether or not drug use is detrimental for the athletes. This is one of the reasons the National Hockey League or NHL does not include cannabis in its list of banned substances.

Why Allowing Athletes To Use Cannabis Makes Sense

Contrary to popular belief, smoking cannabis has many positive physical effects. In fact, according to one study, cannabis improves lung function. Also, cannabis has been used as a means to calm anxiety for more than three thousand years. According to a 2012 study that followed 5000 athletes over a 20-year period, smoking cannabis does not negatively impact lung function. In fact, cannabis seems to slightly improve the lung capacity of people who smoke it. According to researchers, smoking cannabis in the traditional manner can improve lung function over time.

Allowing The Use of Cannabis Would Help Minimize The Athletes’ Consumption Of Alcohol

When athletes aren’t able to use cannabis, they turn to alcohol consumption. This is not good for the athletes. Why? According to some medical studies, alcohol consumption causes far more damage to a person’s body than the consumption of cannabis. By allowing the use of cannabis in sports competitions, authorities will limit the athletes’ consumption of alcohol. This will be good for the latter’s health.

A Good Way Of Managing Pain

Compared to opioid painkillers, cannabis is a safer way of managing pain. The former is addictive and has a long-lasting effect on the body of the person taking it. On the other hand, cannabis causes no such effects rather it reduces anxiety and improves muscle relaxation. All of this helps the person taking it to raise energy levels and improve performance.

Contrary to popular belief, cannabis is good for athletes and the aforementioned information is a proof of this.