Riley Cote, Lamar Odom, Rob Gronkowski, Megan Rapinoe
and David Wells, to name a few, are all known for not only
their athletic achievements, but their achievements in CBD
and cannabis activism too.
But what about the sporting associations they’ve built their
careers from?
1. International
athletes
The World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA), set up by the International
Olympic Committee, removed CBD
from their list of banned substances
in January 2018.
WADA also increased the permitted
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limit, the
intoxicating compound in cannabis
that causes users to feel ‘high’, to 150
nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), ten
times higher than it used to be at
15ng/ml.
WADA’s list of banned substances is
enforced by the Olympic Games, and
many other sports organizations and
agencies align their stances similarly.
The organization advises extreme
caution to athletes who
use CBD, as some
products may be
advertised or
labelled with false information and
contain more THC than they say.
2. National athletes
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
follows the substance guidelines
set out by WADA, and therefore also
approves the use of CBD.
Although WADA was formed to enable
consistency in sporting activities,
every athletic organization is entitled
to have its own rules concerning
sporting stars and substances.
The National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) regulates
athletes across over 1,200 institutions,
organizations and conferences around
the country.
At fi rst glance it seems that THC is a
banned substance, while CBD is not.
However, there is some ambiguity
surrounding this.
The NCAA website reads:
“Any substance that is chemically
60
related to one of the above classes,
even if it is not listed as an example, is
also banned!”
And, as CBD is chemically related to
THC, it may be wise for professional
players to err on the side of caution,
especially mid-season.
3. Sports
League and
Associations
Both competitive cyclists and
triathletes are permitted to use CBD,
however track runners are not.
CBD is not on the National Hockey
League’s banned list of substances either,
so using CBD won’t leave players skating
on thin ice.
But the NHL does advise ‘caution when
using’. Both the NFL and the National
Basketball Association (NBA) currently
prohibit CBD, as they are fearful of THC
contamination. The NFL caps their THC
limit at 35ng/ml.
But this year the collective bargaining