Marijuana Doping in Sports

    The article that I read this week illustrated cannabis as a potential doping mechanism in sports within the United States.  There has been recent discussions involving professional athletes and the use of marijuana as an illicit way of enhancing one's performance.  As of 2010, 17.4 million users have smoked cannabis and 6.9 million use this drug daily in the U.S.  The World Anti-Doping Agency has deemed cannabis use as a substance that may improve performance in some sports through improved muscle relaxation, reduced anxiety, and reduced negatively experienced memories.  Cannabis also is stated to improve sleep and recovery, favoring athletes who perform multiple times in short durations.  However, after learning about the effects of cannabis during lecture, I do not personally believe that cannabis use should be deemed as a doping drug.  As stated in the article, marijuana has multiple negative cognitive effects such as downregulation of CB1 receptors, alteration of executive functions, and motor impairment.  With regards to improving physical performance, I see no evidence that cannabis is a significant booster in these regards.  If anything, a smoked product such as cannabis would result in decreased respiratory capacity and ultimately less physical finesse.  As we learned in lecture, when consumed with fire, this drug leads to increased incidence of chronic bronchitis, increased carcinogen exposure similar to those found in cigarette smoke such as acetaldehyde, and may worsen pre-existing cardiovascular conditions or the immune system.  In men, marijuana reduces testosterone, a vital hormone I learned about in medical embryology that promotes skeletal and muscle growth, stimulates erythropoeisis, metabolic rate, and various secondary sex characteristics.  This was evidently seen in a cyclist study in which their potential exercise activity was decreased ten minutes after smoking marijuana.  It seems that if anything, cannabis use would inhibit optimal athletic performance!  Another guideline that the World Anti-Doping Agency deemed to be a violation by use of cannabis is the spirit of the sport and Olympism, or fair ethics, play, honesty, health, respect for rules and laws, and of others.  This does not apply to marijuana use, as it should only be deemed to affect oneself and not ethics, play, or other athletes.  If anything, it would make athletes more empathic towards one another and an increase of sportsmanship would be observed!

    The article continues to explain the main psychoactive ingredients in cannabis and detection methods used by the World Anti-Doping Agency.  This has led to some users moving on to experiment with a synthetically made herb known as "spice," whose unknown effects on the body through chronic use should lead to a lighter regulation of cannabis itself!  Marijuana is a natural plant, grown from the ground, and its use should be condoned in a doping test, if not in various parts of the country itself.  

Link to Article:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/pubmed/23720640

http://www.frontiersin.org/Addictive_Disorders_and_Behavioral_Dyscontrol/10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00032/full