People buy CBD products due to their perceived health benefits. Sportspeople are increasingly using CBD products for various reasons. Many individuals consider natural extracts to be good for general health. However, CBD manufacturers cannot make any health claims, and they cannot even provide much-needed information about the role of CBD in various health conditions.
Therefore, CBD manufacturers are urging various national sports bodies to support their research initiatives. This would help CBD firms to better understand the role of CBD in sports-related pains, injuries, anxiety and other issues. This may also help CBD manufacturers to get FSA approval for certain health claims.
Lack of high-quality research and FSA approvals for CBD products affect both the manufacturers and the CBD users. CBD firms are unable to provide information about the role of CBD in painful conditions, anxiety, sleep disorders or other health issues, as that is not legally permitted. For users, lack of information means challenges in making the right choices.
Unlike the UK, things are more progressive in the US, where much research is being funded by various bodies. Recently, the NFL funded the research into the role of cannabinoids, including medical marijuana, in pain treatment in sportspeople. There is undoubtedly a need for UK sports bodies to follow this example.
WADA and UK regulatory stance on CBD use in sports
CBD is legal in sports and is not on the WADA’s prohibited substances list. However, things are not as straightforward as they may sound. After all, most CBD products contain numerous other cannabinoids. Some products may contain traces of THC.
There is another good news that sports bodies have agreed on the threshold for THC, a major mind-altering compound in cannabis. For THC, it is 150 nanograms per millilitre. However, here the good news end.
Most regulatory agencies have not cared about describing the cut-off limit for other cannabinoids. Many such cannabinoids don’t have mind-altering properties and may be in considerable amounts in some products. It means that theoretically, even a small amount of them in urine may result in Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF).
Further, sports bodies also warn sports people to use CBD products carefully. If the drug test comes positive after using CBD products, this will be an issue for sportspeople.
What should sportspeople look for in a CBD product?
Needless to say, that sportspeople should not use just any other CBD product. Instead, they should only use premium products created explicitly for sportspeople.
It is worth knowing that CBD extraction is quite a complicated process. In addition, most CBD extracts would contain some amounts of other cannabinoids and might contain traces of THC. Thus, sports people should specifically look for THC free products and should only consider certified or well-tested products.
Although CBD use is legal in sports and will not result in a positive drug test, however, all the responsibility for using such products lies on the sportspeople.
