Why marijuana should be legal in sports

Athletes have been banned from using marijuana, the illegal drug that causes highs. It’s been ingrained into our heads from a young age that marijuana is bad for us and we should never have it, so, of course everyone feels pressured to stay away from marijuana. However, why should it be banned for athletes of age if it has no effect on your performance?

About a month ago, when Sha’Carri Richardson tested positive for marijuana resulting in her omission from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, it made me start thinking more deeply about the situation occurring. 

Richardson claimed that using marijuana was a coping mechanism after discovering her biological mother has unfortunately passed away. Is it our responsibility to judge how she copes with her tragedies? 

I decided to do some research to figure out if marijuana affected your performance in sports. In short, there is yet to be any sufficient evidence that marijuana can enhance your performance. Many articles I researched all say the same thing: marijuana doesn’t affect your performance and many athletes only take it for pain management. 

If anything, marijuana may actually impair your performance. If you ask your mom why you shouldn’t take marijuana, all moms will say the same thing: marijuana ruins your lungs. They are not wrong. Not only does it damage your lungs, it impairs your motor function, increases your chances of getting a heart attack, and increases your chances of chronic depression by almost 50 percent. 

If athletes still want to follow through with the decision to take marijuana even after understanding all the pros and cons, that is their decision. Nonetheless, if it doesn’t have the ability to enhance your performance, I see no reason why you should be suspended from playing if you test positive for this drug in your system.

Many have even been protesting the ban of marijuana in sports insisting that it helps them sleep at night without any soreness or pain.  

There are a variety of different treatments and other legal drugs you can take that will give the same effect as marijuana. Take Tylenol or Advil for instance. They’re both legal drugs known to relieve pain that many athletes take regularly. Why should marijuana be any different? Although marijuana may have worse side effects, it also is a better pain reliever. Some doctors may even prescribe you marijuana as a pain reliever. 

In the end, marijuana will not give you an advantage in your physical performance thus, there should be no punishment for smoking marijuana. It may be a good idea to try and talk some sense into them but all in all it’s their decision.