The confusing world of CBD and sports banned substance testing – podcast

From dietary ingredients to drugs, athletes face a dizzying array of rules and lists governing what they can and cannot ingest. However, these resources, as well as guidance from governing bodies, can be incomplete and/or non-specific which leaves a lot to interpretation. Banned substance testing of sports supplements is smack in the middle of this confusion, especially when it involves the cannabis plant and new supplement darling CBD (cannabidiol). THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, has long been prohibited from sport (and recreation in most places), but CBD was recently OK’d (to some degree?) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which covers many international sports such as the Olympics and FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, aka world soccer). However, many domestic leagues make their own anti-doping rules and lists, sometimes a hybrid of WADA.

INSIDER’s Steve Myers dove into these issues with Oliver Catlin, president of the Anti-Doping Sciences Institute and the Banned Substance Control Group (BSCG), at the recent SupplySide West show in Las Vegas in October 2019. Catlin also detailed BSCG’s new CBD testing program and highlighted other ingredients that present tough challenges to anti-doping management ad banned substance testing.

Some highlights of this podcast include discussion of:

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