Can College Student Athletes Take CBD?
CBD oil is something that is believed to have health benefits for a lot of people, and this is something you need to make sure you factor in when you are considering the use of it. Due to the components found in the substance, it has raised many questions about whether or not this is something that athletes can or should be using.
If you are a college athlete then competing is clearly important to you, and you want to make sure you do this as honestly and fairly as you can. This is why you need to know what the details are surrounding whether or not you are able to take CBD as a college student, and what this means for your future career as an athlete.
Is CBD Prohibited in Sport?
In the strictest sense, CBD products are not prohibited in professional sports, however there are caveats to consider here. The chemical compound known as cannabidiol is not prohibited, but it is very difficult to obtain pure CBD oil or extract directly from the plant. Indeed, in most cases, the CBD oil that would be available to athletes would consist of a mixture of CBD and other cannabinoids, in some cases up to 115 different ones!
Why is This a Problem?
Well, as you can imagine, this is something that can cause potential problems moving forward. The obvious issue here is that you could well be in a position where the synthetics and other additional substances are not actually permitted in sport. And this opens up a can of worms when it comes to testing, because the product can stay in your system for a long time after use.
WADA Permits It
Now, while it is true that the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) does permit CBD oil for athletes, there are complexities to this. In 2018, the governing body removed CBD from its list of prohibited substances, however, it was quick to point out that this applied ONLY to CBD products. Other cannabinoid products, such as THC, and synthetics remain prohibited.
What About the NCAA?
To complicate matters further, the National Collegiate Athletic Association maintains a strict zero-tolerance stance on cannabis, and pretty much all cannabis-related products. Indeed, they have even handed out severe punishments in the past to athletes who have been found using these products. More recent guidelines on the NCAA stance surrounding CBD oil seems to be pretty vague, so it might be advisable to clarify first.
There is a lot to keep in mind if you are looking to use CBD as a college student, and there does often appear to be conflicting information from a lot of sources. It seems like CBD oil is probably okay, though this is something that should be checked before you use it. There are a lot of things that you can do when it comes to helping you recover from strenuous exercise, and try to avoid injury, and CBD oil is a wonderful way of being able to achieve this as much as possible.
