Many countries have legalized cannabis, dozens of our professional sports teams now live in jurisdictions where recreational cannabis use is legal. Some would argue that since CBD can make it difficult to focus and reduce coordination, it would hinder athletes’ performance rather than enhance it. However, not every cannabis user experiences those effects to the same level, and CBD can also reduce anxiety, which can be useful in high-pressure environments. Rather than using cannabis to boost performance during an event, though, most athletes use it during sports recovery.

How CBD Speeds Recovery

To compete in any sport at the highest levels, athletes need to push their bodies extremely hard. Injuries – minor ones, at the very least – are almost inevitable. CD topical is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which means it can help with a common injury like over-strained muscles and sprained ankles. It also reduces the duration of post-workout muscle soreness, which could help athletes spend more time training productivity and less time recovering.

For athletes who need to maintain a certain calorie intake but struggle to eat enough, CBD can help by stimulating their appetites. Athletes may also use CBD creams for better sleep. Interestingly, studies have shown that male athletes are more likely to use CBD than female athletes, and there is a strong positive correlation between the number of training hours and the frequency of CBD use.

It’s also important to note that a majority of CBD use among athletes may be completely unrelated to their performance. One study found that recreational use was eight times more prevalent among athletes than used for performance-enhancing purposes.

Which Sports Allow CBD Use?

Unfortunately, just because cannabis is legal in an athlete’s state or province doesn’t mean they can use cannabis without repercussions. Beyond actual laws, sporting bodies also have their own rules that govern athletes’ behavior. The World Anti-Doping Agency currently includes cannabis in its Prohibited List, as it considers cannabis to be a performance-enhancing drug. Specific sports’ rules are:

•Lacrosse: CBD use is prohibited.
•Football: the CFL’s drug-testing policy has never included CBD.
•Hockey: CBD use is allowed by the NHL, and testing positive for cannabis during one of the random drug tests is not grounds for fines or suspensions.
•NBA: the NBA forbids CBD use… officially. However, tests are infrequent and it is speculated that up to 80% of NBA players use CBD anyway.
•NFL: like the NBA, the NFL forbids cannabis use, but doesn’t test frequently.
•MLB: in Major League Baseball, drug tests are only conducted if there is probable cause. For this reason, players rarely incur penalties for cannabis use, and use is probably much more common than is reported.

Based on the relaxed “anti-weed” policies held by many of these sporting bodies and the correlation between time spent training and frequency of CBD balm use by athletes, it seems like both athletes and regulators are arriving at the same conclusion: That cannabis may be a useful active recovery supplement, but should not be classified as a performance-enhancing drug. Over time, CBD use bans will probably relax or dissolve.

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