Using medication in skilled sports activities has made headlines for many years. Only in the near past, a bunch of swimmers grew to become further newsworthy for successful Olympic Gold after they had examined constructive for a banned drug months earlier. Certainly, debates surrounding drug utilization in skilled sports activities have sometimes been targeted on performance-enhancing stimulants in endurance and energy sports activities.
Interested by the place hashish stands? With the PGA (Skilled Golfers’ Affiliation of America) Tour in full swing, we delved into the standing of hashish in golf. Does the PGA really care about gamers utilizing hashish, or are the rules extra of a formality?
The Participant Handbook
To grasp the PGA’s most up to date insurance policies for gamers, the 2024 PGA Tour Participant Handbook is accessible to the general public.
Whereas the handbook doesn’t title any particular medication, it does communicate broadly about their insurance policies. The PGA explains that “[violations] relating to Drugs of Abuse shall be subject to fine, suspension and/or permanent disbarment from tournament play as provided in these Regulations.”
In different phrases, gamers discovered to violate the Affiliation’s drug insurance policies could face a variety of penalties, with probably the most extreme being everlasting disbarment.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, gamers could also be required to obtain some form of therapy or rehab. The handbook reads, “For violations of the PGA TOUR Anti-Doping Program related to Drugs of Abuse, an approved plan of treatment and rehabilitation to be conducted at the player’s expense, in addition to or in lieu of other penalties may be imposed.”
On this manner, the handbook retains the results associated to drug violations obscure and open-ended, with conditions dealt with on a case-by-case foundation. However what do these violations entail, and the place does hashish particularly slot in?
Somewhat than being outlined within the handbook, these particulars are within the Anti-Doping Guide referenced all through the handbook.
The Anti-Doping Guide
The PGA Tour Anti-Doping Program Guide goes into drug insurance policies with way more thorough element, talking to hashish particularly. They make clear that each “natural and synthetic” hashish is prohibited.
Maybe most attention-grabbing, nonetheless, is the handbook’s acknowledgment that in distinction to another medication, hashish isn’t performance-enhancing. They clarify, “Athletes are unlikely to use cannabinoids to improve their performance; however, some athletes have used cannabinoids to decrease anxiety before a competition.”
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So, Why is it Banned?
Given the PGA’s admission that cannabinoids should not a probable selection for efficiency enhancement, why are they nonetheless banned?
The handbook explains, “Marijuana is illegal under federal law and in most other countries. Involvement with illegal substances goes against the spirit of our sport.” Because of this the PGA’s banning of marijuana is a part of their ethos of adhering to broader federal and nationwide legal guidelines. The handbook then goes on to stipulate potential well being dangers, however it doesn’t say the rest about cannabis-specific violations or points.
PGA Drug Testing
After all, the PGA’s official stance of their Participant Handbook and Anti-Doping Guide is just one side of how they view and deal with hashish. What do their drug testing insurance policies appear like?
Whereas the PGA didn’t at all times take a look at, they introduced in 2017 that they’d start blood testing. Previous to this, solely urine testing was finished, and it appeared to be comparatively lax—participant Rory McIlroy mentioned in 2016, “I could use HGH (human growth hormone) and get away with it,” McIlroy mentioned. “So I think blood testing is something that needs to happen in golf just to make sure that it is a clean sport going forward.”
Suspensions Attributable to Hashish Use
Certainly, it does appear that the altered insurance policies in 2017 marked a shift within the PGA cracking down more durable on marijuana utilization.
In 2019, Matt Each was suspended for 12 weeks for violating the PGA Tour’s drug insurance policies. Each launched an announcement, saying that the violation was on account of hashish, “a drug I do not abuse and a drug that I have a legal prescription for in the state of Florida.” And solely three months prior, Robert Garrigus was suspended for 3 months after testing constructive for THC.
Each Each and Garrigus expressed of their statements that they felt the insurance policies had been unfair, they usually advocated for gamers’ capability to make use of hashish for medicinal functions. Garrigus advised NBC, “If you have some sort of pain and CBD or THC may help that, and you feel like it can help you and be prescribed by a doctor, then what are we doing?”
Shifting Ahead
Regardless of these suspensions in 2017 and 2019, it appears promising that cannabis-related suspensions within the PGA have been largely absent from headlines since then. Provided that not solely have gamers spoken out about their disagreement with the hashish ban, however the PGA themselves additionally state that it isn’t a drug used for efficiency enhancement, we hope that these insurance policies might be modified over time.
As a result of gamers have mentioned how hashish helps them with psychological well being and ache reduction, higher tolerance of hashish would appear to be well-received by gamers whereas nonetheless permitting for a good sport.
