Colorado University Announces Groundbreaking Study on Cannabis and Exercise

Should cannabis really be considered a “performance enhancing substance”? This is what a “first study of its kind” at the University of Colorado in Boulder wants to find out.

When American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was denied a chance to compete in the Tokyo Olympics this summer due to a positive marijuana test, it attracted attention – and a lot of skepticism – about the reasons for banning cannabis in the world Competitive sports.

The so-called SPACE study (“Study on Physical Activity and Cannabis Effects”) announced on Monday “will attract more than 50 paid adult volunteers who are already mixing cannabis and sport for a study with three sessions,” said the university in a. with press release.

“In the first, the researchers measure the heart rate, have the test subjects answer a questionnaire and take some basic fitness measurements. Participants will then be instructed to go to a local pharmacy and pick up either a specific CBD-dominant strain or a THC-dominant strain, ”the announcement reads. “On a follow-up visit, they come back sober to run the treadmill for 30 minutes, answering questions every 10 minutes to assess things like their perception of time, how heavy the exercise feels, and what they think about.” , and how much pain they are in. On another visit they do the same thing, only they get high before they come. “

Laurel Gibson, a PhD student in the University of Colorado’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and lead researcher on the study, said the study will help fill a gap in cannabis research.

As explained in the university’s announcement, the lack of research in this area means that scientists are unsure of how tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) – the two main active ingredients in marijuana – affect physical activity. “

“To date, there have been no human studies of the effects of legal cannabis on physical activity,” Gibson said. “That’s where we come in.”

“Cannabis is often associated with decreased motivation – that stereotype of couch-lock and laziness,” Gibson continued. “But at the same time, we’re seeing more and more anecdotal accounts from people using it in combination with everything from golf and yoga to snowboarding and running.”

The federal weed ban has prompted researchers to take certain precautions with their test subjects.

Under the law that “prohibits the possession or distribution of marijuana on campus,” the press release said, subjects will consume the pot at home “before a researcher picks them up in a mobile laboratory – sometimes in a white Dodge Sprinter Van “. referred to as “Cannavan” – and brings them safely to the laboratory. “

As an added precaution, runners also wear a seat belt around their waist while using the treadmill.

Angela Bryan, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado who is serving as the faculty advisor on the study, said the research could bring a breakthrough for the elderly for whom exercise is too painful.

“If cannabis could relieve pain and inflammation and help older adults be more active, it could be a real benefit,” said Bryan.

Gibson, meanwhile, said research could shed some light on the link between cannabis use and the “runner’s high” romanticized by joggers around the world.

“It is possible that exogenous cannabinoids like THC or CBD activate the endocannabinoid system in a way that mimics the runner’s high,” Gibson said.

Richardson failed a drug test less than a month before the Tokyo Olympics started and kept her away from the Summer Games. Marijuana is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committees.

In September the World Anti-Doping Agency announced that it was reconsidering its cannabis ban.

The USADA has stated that cannabis is banned because it could pose a safety risk to athletes and that it could potentially improve performance.

The latter statement was widely ridiculed, including by Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, who defended Richardson.

“Marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug unless you compete in the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th,” Cohen said at the time. “To take away from her the right to appear, to take away her dream from her, is absurd.”