Pubdate: Sun, 12 Aug 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Russell Barth

ADVOCATE SUPPORTS POT BAN IN SPORTS

As a longtime and very public legalization advocate, I think pot 
should be banned from professional and amateur sports.

Let's say two runners are injured in a race. One is from France, 
where cannabis is prohibited, and the other is from, say, California, 
where citizens can easily get a permit.

The French competitor has no access to cannabis, but the Californian 
would have potentially endless amounts of pot at his disposal.

Using pot for sports injuries speeds up recovery by lowering 
inflammation, lowering blood pressure, relieving pain and increasing 
oxygen to the blood.

In a world where races are won by tenths of second, this lopsided and 
unfair rule would give huge advantages.

Constant pot use helps respiration and asthma, and that can also mean 
the difference between gold and silver.

Many people report a phenomenon called "time dilation" when using 
cannabis, which is the sensation that things around you are moving 
slower than they actually are, causing people to "anticipate" where 
things are going next. This can subtly enhance performance, 
especially in a game like volleyball .

In the name of sportsmanship and fair play, athletes should not be 
using pot because it is a performance-enhancer and recovery-shortener.

Russell Barth,

Ottawa
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