Marijuana ‘Demonstrated Positive Findings’ For Managing Pain In NCAA Athletes, New Research Says

A brand new presentation reviewing analysis on pupil athletes’ use of hashish finds that marijuana “has demonstrated positive findings as an alternative for pain management among NCAA athletes.”

The convention speak, by Jacksonville State University grasp’s pupil Aquriya Muller, drew from printed research into marijuana amongst athletes and for ache administration.

Notably, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) final yr removed marijuana from its list of substances banned for Division I athletes, emphasizing that hashish just isn’t a efficiency enhancing drug and that it must be handled the identical method as alcohol.

“Evidence indicates that marijuana use among athletes can improve oxygenation of tissues, reduce muscle spasm, and enhance pain management,” the brand new analysis paper says. “For patients with fibromyalgia, marijuana use displayed benefits in alleviating symptoms such as pain and stiffness, while enhancing relaxation and sleep.”

It additional discovered that “marijuana’s anti-inflammatory properties also contribute to recovery and post-exercise treatment.”

Her presentation pointed to the instance of a Division I basketball participant who used marijuana to deal with muscle spasms and ache in addition to enhance sleep.

Muller’s report encourages trainers and care suppliers to remain up-to-date on related findings and work to include various and traditional remedies.

In all, the report reviewed 94 complete articles, although it excluded 90 of these for not assembly the research standards.

And whereas Muller famous the constructive obvious advantages of marijuana, she recognized a necessity for additional analysis. The bulk of the research, she famous, had a “lower level of evidence” and have been “less reliable” general.

“Despite these findings, effectiveness varies among individual athletes,” her report says. “In addition, concerns about behavioral health and performance are limited.”

“Athletic trainers and healthcare providers should remain informed about evolving policies and evidence to provide tailored, evidence-based care to their athletes and patients,” it continues. “This knowledge supports developing treatment plans for athletes that incorporate alternative and traditional pain management methods.”

Last yr’s NCAA vote to take away marijuana as a banned substance constructed on a 2022 change that increased the allowable THC threshold for college athletes, a change meant to align NCAA’s guidelines with these of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Historically, faculty athletes have been topic to testing throughout postseason play. Positive exams may imply a complete season of misplaced eligibility. Officials have mentioned the modifications are meant to focus extra on problematic use than penalizing gamers for a single mistake.

“The NCAA drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage,” Josh Whitman, chair of NCAA’s Division I council, mentioned final yr. “The council’s focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use.”

When an NCAA committee formally recommending the policy shift in September 2023, it mentioned ending the hashish ban “acknowledges the ineffectiveness of existing policy (banning, testing and penalizing),” affirms the physique’s perception that hashish just isn’t a “performance-enhancing drug” and promotes the “importance of moving toward a harm-reduction strategy.”

“The timing of discussion and adoption of possible legislation is a decision that will be made by each of three NCAA divisional governance structures,” the panel mentioned. “This recommendation is based on extensive study informed by industry and subject matter experts (including doctors, substance misuse experts and membership practitioners).”

Multiple sports activities organizations have moved to amend their marijuana testing insurance policies for athletes amid the state legalization motion.

For instance, the NFL and its gamers union agreed to end the practice of suspending players over marijuana or different medication as a part of a collective bargaining settlement in 2020.

Late final yr, NFL additionally reached an settlement with its gamers union to further reform its marijuana policies, considerably decreasing fines for constructive exams whereas growing the allowable THC threshold for gamers.

NFL has dedicated important funding to analysis into whether CBD can serve as an effective opioid alternative, and it’s additionally explored the therapeutic potential of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid for pain management and neuroprotection from concussions.

The league introduced early final yr that it was partnering with Canadian researchers on a clinical trial to check the security and efficacy of CBD for ache administration and neuroprotection from concussions—key points for a lot of soccer gamers who expertise accidents as a part of the sport.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) introduced in late 2023 that it was formally removing marijuana from its newly modified banned substances list for athletes, additionally constructing on an earlier reform.

However, forward of a UFC occasion final yr, a California athletics fee mentioned they may nonetheless face penalties under state rules for testing positive for THC over a certain limit, because the state physique’s coverage relies round WADA steerage. UFC subsequently notified participants that the reform didn’t apply below California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) guidelines.

Nevada sports activities regulators voted in 2023 to send a proposed regulatory amendment to the governor that will defend athletes from being penalized over using or possessing marijuana in compliance with state legislation. Last October, regulators officially adopted the rule change.

While advocates have welcomed these modifications, there’s been criticism of WADA over its ongoing hashish ban. Members of a panel throughout the company mentioned in a 2023 opinion piece that marijuana use by athletes violates the “spirit of sport,” making them unfit function fashions whose potential impairment may put others in danger.

Advocates strongly urged WADA to enact a reform after U.S. runner Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from collaborating in Olympics occasions as a consequence of a constructive THC check in 2021.

Following that suspension, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) mentioned that the international rules on marijuana “must change,” the White House and then-President Joe Biden himself signaled that it was time for new policies and congressional lawmakers amplified that message.

Last June, in the meantime, an NFL participant sued the league and his former workforce, the Denver Broncos, for alleged employment discrimination after he was fined more than half a million dollars for testing positive for THC that he says was brought on by his prescribed use of an artificial cannabinoid. NFL and the Denver Broncos in requested a federal courtroom to reject the go well with.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty final yr entered into partnerships with a CBD beverage company—the primary groups within the NBA and WNBA, respectively, to forge offers with the hashish business.

The New York-based golf equipment partnered with Mynd Drinks, a hemp-based CBD glowing beverage firm that additionally made historical past in 2023 when it grew to become an official partner of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Chicago Cubs.

As for marijuana and ache, a research earlier this yr found that cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids could be useful treatments for various types of chronic pain, in some instances serving to to scale back using different drugs. The paper additionally mentioned choose mixtures of cannabinoids may assist reduce undesirable results of hashish, such because the psychoactivity of THC.

That is amongst a flurry of analysis in recent times into using hashish to deal with power ache, which is among the most typical qualifying situations amongst sufferers in lots of states with medical marijuana packages.

Research printed earlier this yr within the journal Pain, for instance, discovered that marijuana was “comparatively more effective than prescription medications” for treating chronic pain after a three-month interval, and that many sufferers diminished their use of opioid painkillers whereas utilizing hashish.

The evaluation “was able to determine, using causal inference techniques, that use of medical marijuana for chronic pain under medical supervision is at least as effective and potentially more effective in relationship to patients with chronic pain treated by prescription medications (nonopioid or opioid),” mentioned the report, by authors on the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School and the National Cancer Institute.

A separate federally funded research discovered that legalization of marijuana in U.S. states is associated with reduced prescriptions for opioid pain medications amongst commercially insured adults—indicating a potential substitution impact the place sufferers are selecting to make use of hashish as a substitute of prescribed drugs to deal with ache.

“These results suggest that substitution of cannabis for traditional pain medications increases as the availability of recreational cannabis increases,” authors of that report wrote, noting that there “appears to be a small shift once recreational cannabis becomes legal, but we see stronger results once users can purchase cannabis at recreational dispensaries.”

“Reductions in opioid prescription fills stemming from recreational cannabis legalization may prevent exposure to opioids in patients with pain,” the paper, printed within the journal Cannabis, continues, “and lead to decreases in the number of new opioid users, rates of opioid use disorder, and related harms.”

Other latest analysis additionally confirmed a decline in deadly opioid overdoses in jurisdictions the place marijuana was legalized for adults. That research discovered a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier within the opioid disaster. Authors estimated that leisure marijuana legalization “is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.”

“Our findings suggest that broadening recreational marijuana access could help address the opioid epidemic,” that report mentioned. “Previous research largely indicates that marijuana (primarily for medical use) can reduce opioid prescriptions, and we find it may also successfully reduce overdose deaths.”

“Further, this effect increases with earlier implementation of [recreational marijuana legalization],” it added, “indicating this relationship is relatively consistent over time.”

Another not too long ago printed report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana discovered that the provision of authorized hashish each diminished opioid use by sufferers with power ache and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. Overall, outcomes of the research indicated that “cannabis has a substantial role to play in pain management and the reduction of opioid use,” it mentioned.

Yet one other research, printed in 2023, linked medical marijuana use to lower pain levels and reduced dependence on opioids and different prescription drugs. And one other, printed by the American Medical Association (AMA) final February, discovered that power ache sufferers who acquired medical marijuana for longer than a month saw significant reductions in prescribed opioids.

Separate analysis printed discovered that greater than half (57 p.c) of sufferers with power musculoskeletal ache mentioned hashish was simpler than different analgesic drugs, whereas 40 p.c reported reducing their use of other painkillers since they began using marijuana.

In Minnesota, in the meantime, a state authorities report this yr on power ache sufferers enrolled within the state’s medical marijuana program mentioned not too long ago that participants “are finding a noticeable change in pain relief” within a few months of starting cannabis treatment.

The large-scale research of almost 10,000 sufferers additionally exhibits that almost 1 / 4 who have been taking different ache relievers diminished using these medication after utilizing medical marijuana.

Another new research on using medical marijuana by older sufferers—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.