Agree! Why would you want to mix that with cycling?
+1
Still illegal in Norway too. Personally, I hope it stays that way.
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Will it make me a faster cyclist? No
Still illegal in the U.K, and studies have shown that it can negatively impact brain development and mental health.
Medical marijuana is a different situation, I get how that can be beneficial but it needs to be linked to properly clinical trials just like any other drug to ensure efficacy.
Iām not sure why this is a discussion at all on this platform, unless the powers that be create an off topic section
This was on the BBC Sport website last week.
George Kruis & Dominic Day: Why rugby players are taking cannabis oil products
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- It is currently in āUncategorizedā because I left it there. This is effectively our āOff Topicā area. See the many other threads in this category for reference.
- It is a discussion because there is interest in the topic. There are many topics in this forum and not all are restricted to being directly cycling or getting faster.
- There are medical and health related effects that are relevant to training.
- Itās as relevant as the alcohol related threads (beer, whiskey)
I left this thread in place because of the above reasons. TR is free to regulate it as they see fit.
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Some of the best information in cannabis on the internet
Fair enough, however you may wish to consider how these topics are categorised in the future as the forum grows. On many sites off topic conversations become more and more prevelent, so when the inevitable politics/religion topics start getting posted you might not want them being the ābannerā threads simply because they are divisive and create lots of comment and views.
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- Are you suggesting something other than the Uncategorized category?
- I have not seen comments from TR on those topics. I donāt know how they plan to handle them or what will/wonāt be permitted.
Off topic, but full disclosure: I am just a regular guy, not a TR employee or representative. I happen to spend a significant amount of time here, and TR saw fit to give me moderator access to help organize and support this forum.
They made no specific requests for my activities and leave me to be active as much or as little as I choose. I frequently add and adjust Categories for posts and do what I can to help make this a productive and enjoyable forum. I use the moderator tools sparingly and with deep consideration (including getting input from forum members) prior to doing so.
I will happily follow/apply any and all rules the TR crew puts in place. I will send a message to them for some guidance again (as Iāve done before) and see how they want to handle this and the other types of topics you mentioned.
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I think something simple like a āgeneralā or āoff topicā sub forum where uncategorised stuff can go and be happily debated without impinging upon the raison dāĆŖtre of the forum. Obviously Iām not suggesting appropriate debate is stifled.
You wait until the first Trump or Atheism thread rocks up, youāll be wishing you had held out for a seat on the TR board 
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As long as the THREAD STAYS ON TOPIC I cant really see where there is a problem, if you disagree dont post or read it. Life really is that simple brother.
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A friend just sent this over to me, its a pretty good informative article.
https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/cbd-hemp-center/best-cbd-oil-products.html
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I think this is a good topic because:
- The poster wants a āFact based discussion on the topic, itās impacts (positive/negative) on training and cycling.ā
- Itās banned in competition by WADA, meaning it has some type of performance enhancement (some people might not know this).
- There are CBD products aimed at cyclists .
- Although itās illegal some places itās legal in others (at least at a state level in Nevada where TR is located).
Seems to be a relevant discussion to me.
I think most of us think inhaling cannabis is a bad thing for cyclists. Iād like to know if CBD (no THC) is good for recovery or just marketing (I havenāt seen solid research either way). Iād also be interested if edibles enhance recovery.
Btw, Iāve never had any type of cannabis (even CBD) and I donāt want to, but the impact on cycling/recovery still interest me.
If there was strong research that CBD without THC helped recovery I might consider it.
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Is it banned because it has a performance enhancing benefit or because there is a safety risk?
My assumption would be that THC is banned in competition for cycling for obvious safety reasons related to reaction time/coordination/etc.
THC:
- Banned in competition
- Not banned out of competition
CBD:
- Conditional in competition
- Not banned out of competition
Also agreed that much more research is needed. Itās really too bad that universities havenāt even been able to study it.
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Iām in no way a large user of cannabis or alcohol. I consume alcohol or cannabis ~2x a month, and even less during racing season.
The after-effects of alcohol are increasingly becoming worse and worse as I get older, and I generally hate the feeling of it after the fact. The reasons for this from alcohol are well studied, and the impacts on training/performance and timing of consumption have been discussed quite heavily even on AACC podcast. Thatās all good. We at least know with this vice what we are getting into and what the impacts are going to be.
Iām in agreement that smoking anything is going to be bad. Is using a nebulizer or vaporizer just as bad?
Does the timing of THC consumption have any impact on recovery? Is it the same/worse than having alcohol?
Anecdotally, cannabis vs. alcohol effects are the somewhat similar but cannabis doesnāt leave me feeling like a pile of garbage 4hrs later. Thereās no hangover feeling, no lethargy, and Iāve certainly never had to miss a workout the next day because Iām lying in bed nursing a gatorade.
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The problem for so many people is the social stigma attached to marijuana. The benefits, if any, donāt matter to them because they mentally take the stance that marijuana is bad, end of discussion.
Unfortunately so many social norms are the product of capitalism and not research or even common sense.
Research is pointing us to the understanding that alcohol, even in moderation, provides no tangible health benefit, yet is burdened with a variety of negative effects:
Alcohol use has a complex association with health. Researchers have recognised alcohol use as a leading risk factor for disease burden, and studies link its consumption to 60 acute and chronic diseases.
That doesnāt matter though because booze is socially accepted and weed isnāt, yet. Why is alcohol so widely accepted around the globe? Threads on post-ride imbibes are just fine, welcome even, but a little toke on the chronic and the subsequent discussion leads to responses on the knee-jerk level of religion and politics.
Alcoholics Anonymous has over 2MM members.
The World Health Organization estimates that over 3MM people died in 2016 alone from alcohol related deaths:
21 September 2018 ā Geneva. More than 3 million people died as a result of harmful use of alcohol in 2016, according a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today. This represents 1 in 20 deaths. More than three quarters of these deaths were among men. Overall, the harmful use of alcohol causes more than 5% of the global disease burden.
There are no corresponding statistics on marijuana that lead people to the conclusion of it being universally bad. The most often used rationale is that cannabis is illegal and thatās the reason itās a bad thing. If you look at the number of addicts, deaths and medical related issues with the two side-by-side and you were starting from scratch, it would not be a shock for society to make alcohol to be the āoutlawedā drug if again, we were starting from a point of what we know today.
Marketing, lobbyist and capitalism drive perception.
For generations parents taught their kids that breakfast was, āThe most important meal of the day.ā This saying was brought to us by someone pretty interested in making sure folks ate breakfast:
Why have fast food chains focused more on advertising egg McMuffins, White Castle belgian waffles, and Taco Bell breakfast burritos? As industry members explained in a TIME article, āthroughout the fast food world, lunch and dinner sales have been flat for years, while breakfast sales have climbed steadily.ā You can find the same logic in cereal makersā 1944 marketing strategyāthe one that coined the phrase āBreakfast is the most important meal of the day.ā
There are emerging yet strong arguments that breakfast isnāt the most important meal of the day, it might not be important at all. Yet, itās been accepted that way for generations and will take many more to change.
Since TR is about improving your health and overall fitness, here is my non-comprehensive list of why I chose cannibus over drinking:
Weed has no calories
Weed doesnāt give me a hangover
Weed doesnāt dehydrate me
Weed isnāt addictive (to me)
Weed is calming, helps me sleep, lowers cortisol and keeps my mind from ruminating on nights before a race
Weed doesnāt burn my lungs, I donāt smoke it
I would never smoke weed and ride a bike but I have been in multiple cycling events where beer was available during and immediately after the event. Such a paradox but itās socially accepted so what not?
YMMV and I donāt ārecommendā either but if health is a goal of yours and you are drinking, itās probably something you should research on your own rather than blindly following what Diageo and Inbev want you believe. I am not anti-alcohol but I am pro-health, and to me cannabis is far healthier than alcohol in my life.
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There it is in a nutshell. Its not legal where I live, its not legal for me anywhere because Im a lifer in the US Military. Neither of those facts lessen my interest in the topic itself, nor my interest in whether there really is something to the effectiveness of CBD or THC and its derivatives.
The bottom line is that its an intellectual discussion, we arenāt debating the legality of the product in or out of competition, nor are we debating the legality of it from state to state, simply whether there is some benefit to be gained from its use, either by the layman, or the athlete.
I could be wrong, (it happened once, it was 1993, she was a redheadā¦) but I believe that WADA and the USADA follow the IOC rules in determining whatās banned, and many of those rules come from local countries rules regarding the legality of certain ārecreationalā substances.
As to CBD specifically, I agree with @Nate_Pearson Iām very curious to see some real research into the effects, Iāve heard literally hundreds of anecdotal stories as to its effectiveness for inflammation and as a recovery aid. Iāve seen a LOT of advertising and product marketing that reference āstudiesā which are rarely if ever cited in detail. Iād guess honestly that very little real research has been done on the topic. The stuff is very expensive (not even a drop in the bucket of the costs of similar products from big Pharma though), and without relative SCIENTIFIC research as to its effectiveness, I donāt see myself spending 60.00 a dose (or more) to test the waters. That being said, I also take almost nothing produced by big Pharma.
The effectiveness of THC in any of its forms to help my brothers in arms with the devastating effects of trauma related emotional challenges is beyond question to me, as I have personally seen it many times over, so it seems to follow that many of our anxiety and depression symptoms could be lessened by this rather than the handful of pills that Pharma and our doctors tell us are the only way to find relief. There are probably THC side effects, as there are with most anything. My buddy takes Losartan HCZ for high blood pressure, in addition to being illegal in competition (HCZ is a banned substance in that may be used to mask other agents and hasten their discharge from the system), it makes him prone to dehydration, and causes electrolyte imbalances. He still chooses to take it, as it was the only thing he has used that has brought his BP down to a level acceptable to his medical advisors, and himself. So there is certainly real precedence for folks being willing to give potentially risky things a go to see if it helps them.
I believe firmly that there are a large number of obsessive folks in the cycling and triathlon worlds, I personally know of more than a couple of people who ride, run, swim, lift as a substitute for the substance addictions they battled before āgetting cleanā and taking up their respective sport. I know that this colors some of the discussion of a topic like this, much like the other thread about alcohol.
The thing is, if we canāt even have an intellectual discussion about the relative ups and/or downs of the stuff, we are absolutely not heading in the right direction on this forum.
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^^^ Exactly!
Hey all!
There is a major difference between politics/ religion and marijuana consumption since the former has nothing to do with cycling in any way, while marijuana is a substance that is legal in many states and is being studied for reducing inflammation and aiding recovery.
The research is incomplete and not fully conclusive at this time due to the recent legalization, however, based on the responses on this forum it is something that forum members are interested in discussing. In fact, this topic was even discussed on the podcast in this past year.
As Chad mentioned, we have threads discussing alcohol consumption in this forum, which is another mind altering, performance diminishing, legal substance.
I hope this helps to clarify our stance a bit, feel free to DM me if anyone has any questions 
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Thereās lots of politics in cycling. Bike law and building out cities to be bike friendly. Stuff like that.
And we talk religion all the time! Did you see the Polarized Training thread? 
I kid I kidā¦
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This line I donāt like because youāre attacking the person, not the idea. Even if someone bates us letās be better than that.
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Definitely interested in learning more about the CBD side of it. As for smoking, not interested. Itās now legal for medical use in Thailand (as of yesterday) so I believe there will be a follow on effect. Either way, as the posts above reflected, itās not a debate on the use of legalization, but rather the medical pros and cons. Will follow this thread with interest but not interested in any soapboxes for or against sweet maryjane itself.
Living in this crazy city I think some people could use some calming downā¦especially the motorists.
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