Football as a sport is one of the few with fans from all over the world. Fans follow NFL lineups of games for a whole season and still feel bummed out when the season ends. Luckily, they have the XFL, an alternative league offering football tournaments for fans.
The strictness of these leagues varies, and this also affects their players. What one league may deem legal, others may deem illegal. What is XFL’s stand on cannabidiol use among its players? Is it legal, and what does this mean for professional athletes?
What is the XFL?
Before we dive into the legal terms and uses of cannabidiol among XFL athletes, it is better first to understand what it is and what it does. Most players would prefer to jump in and visit sites such as https://askgrowers.com/cbd/edibles, but it is better to have some background information. The XFL, as mentioned, is an alternative football league for off-season days.
In full, XFL means Extreme Football League. The league gets led by the World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon. Besides the chairperson, the league has some prominent founders, including Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners. The league was founded in February 2023 to provide a fan-first football experience.
The league’s mission is to put its fans’ interests first. They offer a 360-degree watching experience, innovative strategies, and lenient rules to their players. The rules of the game are like those of the NFL. For instance, they offer a 10-week game experience where each team gets ten plays.
They have 43 games: forty regular season, two playoffs, and one championship game. The games get streamed on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and FX. The teams that will be playing constitute two divisions: the North and the South divisions. Each of the divisions holds four teams that will compete against each other for the entirety of the season.
Though it mimics the NFL in certain attributes, the XFL is insistent on its fan-first policy. The founders and major contributors feel that revolutionalizing how fans experience sports will positively impact how they choose to watch the content. Other than the fan-first policy, they have aspects quite different from the ordinary NFL plays.
Legal Status of CBD and Marijuana Use in the XFL
Good sportsmanship involves following the rules of the given league that supervises the plays. The NFL, for one, is a strict league that regulates the plays of all footballers wishing to compete in the same. Drug tests are a normal regulation requirement for most leagues.
Within the NFL, the WADA-prohibited list of substances is the determining marker through which the players get tested. It follows the WADA list to the last letter, including its removal of cannabidiol from the testing requirements in 2018. Currently, the NFL allows for CBD use for players in their competitions.
Their attitude towards cannabis as a whole is slightly different. They use the federal stance and WADA’s list to gauge the appropriateness of marijuana consumption. Players cannot use weed that contains THC and other cannabinoids and expect to participate in the competitions. The threshold maximum for THC testing is 150mg. Any amount higher than that can lead to disqualification.
In an interview, a WADA spokesperson argued that the threshold had increased from 15 to 150mg. He continued to offer that the increase in the threshold was because they wanted to detect same-day use and not prior uses. They acknowledged that many athletes are turning to weed, and punishing them for previous uses would be unfair. The only illegal thing is using THC on the same day as the competition.
Unlike the NFL, the XFL is more relaxed. Their main goal is fan entertainment and offering players lenient rules to follow. According to an article on Ganjapreneur, the XFL recently shared that they will not be testing for cannabis. Their players will get tested for PEDs, not marijuana and its by-products.
This declaration means that all cannabinoids are legal for players in the XFL. Since the tests will not capture cannabinoid use, the players can use them as they see fit. It is worth noting that cannabinoids and cannabis have many benefits for players.
The cannabis plant has over a hundred cannabinoids, each effective in dealing with a different problem. They offer an ‘entourage effect’ that can lead the user to experience more benefits.
According to current research studies and surveys, CBD helps alleviate pain, and stress management, reduce anxiety levels, improve focus, and more. THC, on the other hand, has a psychoactive feature that leads to increased sensory perception. Overall, XFL players have much to gain from using cannabidiol on their own or full spectrum products.
Potential Risks of Using Cannabis and Cannabidiol Products
Now that we know players in the Extreme Football League can use cannabidiol and marijuana products, it is only right we ask ourselves about the potential risks. Like anything else with a set of advantages, risks and disadvantages are also possible.
CBD use is generally safe as the compound does not produce a high. The players will not get any adverse reactions when taken in the right doses and with appropriate ingestion. When taken in huge amounts, it is possible to experience a CBD overdose. It can get identified with symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, fatigue, and lethargy. To avoid this risk, it is always appropriate to use CBD that aligns with your tolerance levels.
There is also the risk of allergic reactions to the ingredients in cannabidiol and marijuana products. Some manufacturing processes add certain substances that some people may be allergic to. If you know your allergy triggers, you can go through their Certificate of Analysis to determine the ingredients in each product.
Another risk comes from the use of full-spectrum products. As mentioned, cannabis contains THC, which can lead a person to get high and disoriented. Increased sensory perception can interfere with a player’s attention on the field. There are high risks of distractions, being absent-minded and risking losing the game or harming other players. Athletes should be in top mental and physical condition at all times. The use of marijuana with THC can highly limit their playing capability.
Lastly, there is the risk of getting sub-par products on the market. Despite the FDA’s efforts, some manufacturers still sell low-quality products. These commodities are often not labeled correctly or contain illegal amounts of compounds. The only way to navigate this risk is to ensure you buy from a reputable brand. The brand should have several customer reviews and provide third-party lab tests to ascertain the quality of their edibles or tinctures.
Conclusion
One of the worst times for football fans is the end of the season. They have to come to terms with the fact that they will not be watching the game anymore. With the Extreme Football League, fans have an alternative for those boring off-season periods. The league offers a fan-based football experience and is even more lenient on players than the NFL. Players can use cannabis and not get any penalties from the same. With this in mind, they can benefit from marijuana and its by-products. CBD use is also legal in the XFL.
Lana Braslavska wrote this piece. Lana is an intelligent and passionate writer with a nose for what news the people want. Her contribution to marijuana-related articles is informative and covers many topics. Her goal remains to disperse news that will benefit all marijuana lovers.
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