It’s the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and everyone is talking about one thing… Cannabis!
This is the first year where the Olympic elite athletes are speaking about their use of certain cannabinoids such as CBD. The WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) removed CBD from the list of prohibited substances in September 2017, however other cannabinoids such as THC remain prohibited.
So what’s the big deal about the lift? While athletes are permitted to use CBD, they were unable to bring it with them to Tokyo due to strict anti-cannabis laws in Japan. This means that while they have been preparing and training for the Olympic games, they have been able to use CBD topicals and ingestibles to improve their overall performance. Improving performance could be anything from getting a better night’s sleep to helping sore muscles after a workout. With all the wear and tear athletes put their bodies through it only seems fair to allow them some sort of natural physical relief.
Along with the physical pain athletes experience on a day-to-day basis, they also experience a lot of mental pressure when playing on the world’s biggest sports stage. That is why reaching for CBD has been a more common choice for athletes since they already are so limited on what they can use to keep performing their best. Not only do people use it for the physical relief but for it’s therapeutic effects on mental health.
While CBD has been in the spotlight this year at the Olympics, it’s sister cannabinoid THC still lives in infamy in the athletic world. It has been a slippery topic of conversation this year after sprinter and Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson was disqualified after testing positive for THC. Why is one cannabinoid banned but the other celebrated? It’s because of the psychoactive effects associated with THC. However, this ban on THC may not last forever. As the popularity of CBD and other cannabinoids grow, it’s becoming evident that THC will join the party soon enough. Until then CBD will remain the star of the show!
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