In support of CBD for pain, the 2020 Olympics will allow athletes to consume

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The World Anti-Doping Agency is relaxing its stance on cannabis, with caveats

An update to the current policies of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is welcoming a new participant for the upcoming Summer Olympics. The cannabis compound cannabidiol (CBD) is in the lineup, and this is an outstanding win for the cannabis industry, as the compound will be authorized for athletes to use CBD to treat the common pain associated with high-demanding performances. This will be the first time that competition will run in which athletes can access the many benefits CBD can bring to boost performance without feeling any fears or consequences.

The WADA is the responsible organism to monitor and control any use of drugs during the Olympics, and it decided in 2018 that CBD would not be in that list of banned substances. CBD was held illegal, along with its compound partner, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), since 1999, and all Olympic athletes were banned from using it.

The path is not that smooth, though, for those who are actually planning in bringing any CBD-based product to the competition. Products have to be tested first to guarantee that they don’t contain over the legal limit of THC (0.3%) and this can get tricky really fast. Based on a testing sample by Ellipse Analytics of 250 different products, over 45% of them had more than the accepted level for CBD products, and to makes the matter worse, some products that said “THC free” reported detectable levels of it.

Maybe regular consumers are not even worried about these small amounts THC traces in their CBD products but for a professional athlete, it can really trunk someone’s career if the limit exceeds and results in a positive drug test.