Wake Up, WADA!

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Why the World Anti-Doping Agency Needs to Clear Up the Status of Cannabis in Sport

While many Canadians can say the legalization of cannabis has impacted their lives in some way, athletes who represent the country are not one of them, with the sporting world’s governing bodies hesitant to adapt their drug policies. Canada’s Anti-Doping Program (CADP) has made it clear to both amateur and professional athletes that the global status of cannabis in sport has not changed, and it is still a prohibited substance according to the codified standards of many organizations. Regardless of Canada’s many professional sports teams and athletes, they play in American leagues and are inclined to follow their respective policies. The NFL, NBA and MLB have all maintained similar standards with fines being implemented first, followed by game suspensions that become lengthier for every repeat offence. Interestingly enough, the NHL and the CFL, who have the most Canadian influence amongst their administration, are laissez-faire when it comes to cannabis. The NHL does not discipline players if they test positive for cannabis, and CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has been on record saying that the CFL’s drug-testing policy “focuses on performance-enhancing drugs” and “has never included testing for marijuana or other recreational drugs.”

However, there is one Canadian organization who indisputably has the power to change the global stance on cannabis in sports. That would be the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the international governing body most well-known for implementing the drug testing standards for Olympic athletes, whose headquarters are in fact located in Montreal. WADA’s policy states that cannabis, specifically THC (tetrahydrocannabidiol), is on their prohibited list of substances because the drug’s use meets two of the following three criteria: 1) it has the potential to enhance performance, 2) it can cause harm to the health of an athlete, and 3) it violates the spirit of sport. The issue is their reasoning behind how cannabis satisfies these requirements is as flimsy as paper. 

WADA doesn’t advocate that it fulfills the performance-enhancing test, the one which which I believe to be most paramount as to whether a drug should be on the list. There has really been no clear evidence brought forward suggesting that cannabis could be used to improve athletic performance. Yes, athletes have begun to promote the use of cannabis on a regular basis, but the purpose of that is to help them recover from injuries and alleviate any pain, stress or anxiety they might have. This is becoming a common occurrence in contact sports such as hockey and football, where many former players suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) brought on by numerous concussions, and still deal with the repercussions today. 

The NFL’s policy on marijuana has historically been very strict on players who test positive for cannabis, but there is a potential for the policy to evolve with many players confessing that they use cannabis for their injuries like Calvin Johnson. The former Detroit Lions pass-catcher, and said that he consumed marijuana after almost every game for the duration of his career to help him heal. Since Johnson’s admission and the support that’s come with it, the NFL has begun to show glimpses of open-mindedness, this time by reinstating wide repeat offender Josh Gordon after what was believed to be an indefinite suspension.

WADA’s argument stands for point two that the consistent use of cannabis can cause harm to the health of an athlete, but simultaneously disqualifies part one. The list of negative side-effects that can occur to an athlete’s actual performance on the playing field from consuming cannabis are significantly longer than the medical benefits. 

An athlete may be more calm and confident in competition after using THC, but cannabis use increases blood pressure, impairs judgment as well as muscle memory, and significantly slows down reaction time. With so many physical disadvantages, it makes little to no sense why an athlete would use cannabis directly before a competition which they’ve been training their whole lives for to try and win. WADA should take heed of the words of Commissioner Ambrosie and “have faith” their athletes “will display some sort of common sense.” WADA needs to prevent from having another athlete go down the same path as Ross Rebagliati. A Canadian snowboarder who won gold at 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games, Rebagliati was initially stripped of his medal after he tested positive for THC, which wasn’t even a banned substance at the time. Fortunately, the decision was overturned and Rebagliati eventually got his medal back, but similar to alcohol, athletes should have the right to use their own discretion when consuming a drug that is used recreationally.

The “spirit of sport” test that WADA uses to solidify their stance on cannabis is really the one I have the most qualms with. WADA rejects the use of cannabis by amateur athletes through circular logic by stating that “given that cannabis is prohibited in competition, we encourage athletes to demonstrate respect… by competing clean, clear and sober.” WADA is just declaring that because cannabis satisfies test two, it therefore also satisfies test three. It weakens the whole structure of their three-pronged test and WADA appears to be purely using an arbitrary umbrella to input their qualitative opinion, regardless of whether the drug actually provides any performance-enhancing benefit.

What makes the whole issue more frustrating is that WADA has begun to contradict themselves in their stance on cannabis, and this extra safeguard really does nothing to prevent its recreational use but make things more inconvenient for athletes who require cannabis for medical purposes. Cannabis is still a threshold substance under WADA, meaning that even if an athlete tests positive for it, if the level of cannabis in their system is under a certain concentration, it will not be reported and the athlete will not be sanctioned.

Additionally, CBD Oils (Cannabidol), which provide health benefits for athletes without producing a high, are not considered a prohibited substance by WADA, unlike THC. Despite encouraging them to seek alternatives, WADA also allows for athletes to get a medical exemption for marijuana, but they have to go through a lengthy process which requires them to provide “a comprehensive medical history, results of a complete medical evaluation, a detailed letter from their prescribing physician, and a completed medical document authorizing the use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.”

Allowing for an exemption is a step in the right direction, and they have happened due to frequent requests from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) but it still creates barriers to a recovery method which is much safer than other alternatives out there. Circling back to Calvin Johnson, the receiver also openly admitted that many players dealt with opioid addictions because drugs like Vicodin, Oxycontin, and Percocet were the easiest to access and “you really could go in the training room and get what you wanted.” But athletes in contact sports are tired of treating their pain this way, with painkillers, sleeping pills and alcohol, and they’re now aware of the severe risks that come with them. Back in the summer of 2011, three NHL players, Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard, and Rick Rypien, each of whom were ‘enforcers’ who took countless shots to the head over their careers, passed away in sudden fashion. Belak and Boogaard’s situations in particular revolved an accidental drug and alcohol overdose while recovering from their injuries or to help them cope with depression.

What’s become obvious from WADA’s stance on cannabis as a prohibited substance is that no one in the athletic community really knows how to treat marijuana. The system isn’t working correctly when the safer recovery options are harder to access than the permissible ones that put an athlete’s body at a greater risk. For me, this stems from two things; first, cannabis is a drug that has had a cloud of negative stigma hovering over it for a lengthy period of time, and those who are in control of major governing sports bodies are unwilling to let go of the connotation they’ve had with the drug. The past needs to be left in the past, because secondly, more research needs to be done on the effects cannabis has on athletes to make it obvious as to whether or not it needs to be associated with other performance-enhancers like anabolic steroids. 

WADA needs to be proactive, and not reactive on this issue. Their desire to strictly police athletes when it comes to the use of cannabis, which is primarily used for medical or recreational purposes, has the potential to blow up in their face. The last thing they need is another Ross Rebagliati, or worse, a tragedy similar to Wade Belak or Derek Boogaard. Canada has set the wheels in motion, and the CCES is advocating for its removal, but now it’s time for WADA to step up. If they do so on a global scale, the rest will follow.

About the author

Nolan Cattell

Sports Editor

By Nolan Cattell

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