Cannabis is forbidden to players in most professional and collegiate sports leagues despite an increasing number of jurisdictions across North America legalizing the plant for recreational use.
While most leagues have yet to change policies to enable players to use cannabis, the Canadian Football League (CFL) is the exception, and it is the most accepting of cannabis of the sports leagues that have 麻豆传媒映画teams.
In a statement to Business in Vancouver, the CFL noted its drug-testing policy for players 鈥渉as never included testing for marijuana or other recreational drugs.鈥� Instead, the league said, 鈥渋t focuses on performance-enhancing drugs. That will continue to be the case.鈥�
The league added that it expects all players and staff to obey laws, act responsibly and not come to work impaired.
鈥淲e have faith our employees will display that sort of common sense,鈥� the league said.
Other leagues鈥� policies vary in tolerance for pot consumption. Dentons employment lawyer Taylor Buckley told BIV that 鈥渞ecreational cannabis is not protected by human rights legislation,鈥� so the leagues have a free hand to enter into collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with players that have no-cannabis provisions.
The National Hockey League (NHL), for example, has a CBA with the National Hockey League Players鈥� Association (NHLPA) that stipulates that players who test positive for 鈥渄rugs of abuse,鈥� such as the intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), will not be publicly named but will be 鈥渞eferred鈥� to a drug treatment program.
Attending that program, however, is voluntary, unless the test reveals 鈥渄angerously high levels鈥� of THC, said NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon.
He stressed that the league鈥檚 tests are intended to spot performance-enhancing drugs, not cannabis.
The CBA says league officials conduct team-wide, no-notice testing on each NHL team once during training camp and once during the regular season. They also select individual players randomly for no-notice testing once during the regular season. Players must give team officials an email and phone number to use during the off-season.
If a player is unreachable for two weeks without a good reason during the off-season, the player is referred to a committee to determine next steps, which could include discipline, according to the CBA.
Major League Soccer forbids players from reporting for work 鈥渦nder the influence鈥� of alcohol or illegal substances. It also forbids 鈥減erformance-enhancing substances,鈥� and other drugs banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
麻豆传媒映画Whitecaps spokesman Tom Plasteras told BIV that the league tests players two to three times per year and that there has never been a case in which a Whitecaps player has been found to have a banned substance in his system.
WADA explicitly bans cannabis but notes that cannabidiol (CBD), a pain-relieving component derived from it, is an exception.
The result is that Whitecaps players could consume high-CBD cannabis and stay in compliance with league policies.
The players of Vancouver鈥檚 fourth professional sports team, the 麻豆传媒映画Canadians, are officially employed by the parent Toronto Blue Jays and are therefore subject to Major League Baseball (MLB) rules.
鈥淢arijuana, or cannabis, is not allowed in baseball,鈥� Canadians鈥� president Andy Dunn told BIV. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 legal or not legal, it is a banned substance.鈥�
MLB does not regularly test players for what it calls drugs of abuse, but tests may be conducted if the league or players鈥� union has reasonable cause. Positive tests can result in fines and suspensions.
In December, MLB announced that five minor-league baseball players received 50-game suspensions for violating the rules of a drug-prevention and treatment program.
Dunn said that Canadians players have been suspended in the past but that the team was never told the exact cause.
鈥淲e just understand that there鈥檚 a suspension,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is all administered through MLB, minor-league baseball and Toronto.鈥�
Athletes need to be just as wary at the collegiate level.
The University of British Columbia鈥檚 senior athletics director, Gilles L茅pine, told BIV that the university follows Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport regulations, which stipulate that cannabis is a banned substance.
鈥淐annabis could be used to cover another drug,鈥� L茅pine explained.
He said some athletes have been punished after THC was detected in their bloodstreams. Penalties can include suspensions from sports for up to two years, although the student would be able to continue to take classes.
Simon Fraser University鈥檚 senior director of athletics and recreation, Theresa Hanson, said the situation was similar at her university, which follows the National Collegiate Athletic Association鈥檚 (NCAA) rules.
The NCAA is stricter about performance-enhancing drugs than it is about street drugs, but students could be suspended for half a year for having cannabis active ingredients in their systems, she said.
NHL Alumni Association urges cannabis research
Pro sports leagues may be slow to accept players using cannabis but the National Hockey League Alumni Association (NHLAA) is showing that it is willing to consider that the plant could be helpful for players who have had concussions or injuries.
The NHLAA in March hatched a partnership with the world鈥檚 largest publicly traded cannabis company, Canopy Growth Corp., and commissioned a team of neuroscientists to conduct research to determine whether former players could benefit from using cannabis, or more specifically CBD.
NHLAA president Glenn Healy stressed to BIV that the study would not include tests on the therapeutic value of THC, the intoxicating substance in cannabis.
Neurosurgeon Amin Kassam will head a team of scientists who will conduct the tests as part of a new organization known as Neeka Health Canada 鈥� which Healy calls 鈥渁n all-star team.鈥�
The 100 or so players who will take part in the testing have been promised confidentiality. It will include some brain scanning early on and then some vestibulo-ocular reflex and neurofascial testing.
鈥淸I鈥檓] quite frankly getting tired of getting calls from players鈥� wives and kids saying, 鈥業 want my dad back,鈥欌�� Healy said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e being proactive with it.鈥澨�
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