The possibility of using drug-free cannabinoids in big sports

With the participation of athletes, clinical studies will be conducted to assess the effect of drug-free cannabinoids, primarily cannabidiol, on relief of pain, treatment of various types of inflammation, recovery after exercise and injuries, not to mention the normalization of the mental health of the subjects.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. concluded a “multi-million agreement” with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) to study the effect of drug-free cannabinoids on the well-being of athletes and the recovery process in the post-competitive / training period.

Over the past few years, there have been active discussions in the world of professional sports about how effective cannabis is used as a reducing or medicinal product. This is especially true in those sports where athletes are considered microtrauma / brain concussion (American football, hockey, various martial arts) as a normal phenomenon. According to the use of the therapeutic properties of hemp athletes, shared by a number of medical professionals, drug-free cannabinoids have a beneficial effect on resistance, as well as contribute to the restoration of the body and help fight various inflammatory processes. This primarily concerns contact sports, which are characterized by regular traumatic brain injuries.

The contract concluded between Aurora and MMA is aimed at studying how drug-free cannabinoids, primarily cannabidiol, help athletes achieve athletic performance and improve the quality / speed of recovery from microtraumas received during the training process or during the competition. It should be noted that immediately after the announcement of this transaction shares Aurora Cannabis Inc. increased in price on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading them.

Under the terms of the contract, representatives of both structures will explore the therapeutic effects of drug-free cannabinoids on MMA representatives at the UFC Performance Institute. During the experiments with the participation of athletes, clinical studies will be conducted to assess the effect of drug-free cannabinoids, primarily cannabidiol, to relieve pain, treat various types of inflammation, recover from exercise and injuries, not to mention normalize the mental health of the subjects.

The joint project’s guidelines put the focus on the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is inclined to ignore the addition of drug-free cannabinoids to cosmetics and topical products for the time being, although it is forbidden for companies to declare on the effectiveness of treatment of serious diseases with the help of the therapeutic properties of hemp.

Commentary of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

Within the framework of the Law “On Farms”, which legalized the possibility of cultivating industrial crops of technical hemp, the regulation of the number of drug-free cannabinoids in goods / products / products was delegated by the FDA. Representatives of this department say that they will not allow companies to add drug-free cannabinoids to food or beverages until appropriate regulation is established and the necessary regulatory documents are developed. Agreement between MMA and Aurora Cannabis Inc. involves certain risks due to the fact that at the moment this kind of documents at the federal level are not developed and theoretically, federal agencies can prevent this kind of research.

Despite the aforementioned guidelines, Aurora and MMA risk understanding the benefits that they open up in the process of conducting this kind of joint research. They are based on the fact that the recognized therapeutic properties of drug-free cannabinoids that are actively used in the training process do not have documented reliable data explaining the mechanism of their therapeutic effects on the body of athletes. At the same time, having the best quality preparations made from technical hemp of therapeutic orientation in the territory of our country in Ukraine cannot be officially used. The negative thing is that representatives of foreign sports associations are actively interested in these preparations developed in Ukraine, and our athletes can only use them abroad by purchasing in extremely limited quantities.