Marijuana Moment writes
Members of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel say that marijuana use by athletes violates the “spirit of sport,” making them unfit role models whose potential impairment could put others at risk.
In an editorial published in the journal Addiction, several members of WADA’s Prohibited List Expert Advisory Group summarized the reasons that the body decided to continue prohibiting cannabis use by athletes in competitions last year amid growing calls to end the policy.
Perspectives were “mixed” over whether marijuana “enhances or has the potential to enhance sport performance,” they wrote. And the group also acknowledged that athletes have reported that cannabis benefits them by “facilitating recovery and reducing pain.”
But in the end, they said that the use of marijuana in competitions violates ethical standards, justifying the ban.
Specifically, the editorial says that cannabis consumption runs counter to the “spirit of sport,” which “encompasses a number of universal values of sport, and four aspects that were particularly relevant to the discussion on cannabis remaining in the list.”
Here are the factors that the WADA officials said apply to marijuana, quoted directly from their paper:
- Excellence in performance: this could be undermined by consumption of cannabis during the in-competition period.
- Character and education: the role model aspect is not compatible with use of a substance that is still illegal in most parts of the world.
- Respect for rules and laws: its use violates the law in most countries in the world, in addition to Anti-Doping Organization rules in some instances.
- Respect for self and other participants: the welfare and safety of other participants may be compromised by impaired judgment associated with the presence of cannabis in an athlete in-competition.
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