Recreational drug use and sport: Time for a WADA rethink?

• Recreational drugs like marijuana and cannabis are currently (2013) on WADA's list of banned drugs.
• Such drugs offer no performance enhancing capabilities to the athletes.
• The attempt to control the use of these drugs in sport is part of a growing concern about drug ‘abuse’ within the wider society.
• WADA have used the ‘spirit of sport’ argument to reach beyond sporting concerns to ban these drugs.
• WADA should focus its resources and not police athletes’ lifestyles. Therefore the ban on recreational drugs should be lifted.

This paper examines current policies towards drug use in sport to evaluate their appropriateness. The focus is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) attitudes and policies towards athletes’ use of recreational drugs. Since recreational drugs such as marijuana are not performance-enhancing, one of the most frequently used arguments to justify doping controls – that those involved in drug use derive an unfair advantage over other competitors – cannot be used to justify controls on the use of such drugs. Given this, it is suggested that the attempt to control the use of marijuana within a sporting context is best understood in terms of the growing concern about drug ‘abuse’ within the wider society. The paper further suggests that the WADA has used the ‘spirit of sport’ argument to reach beyond traditionally accepted sporting concerns. In this regard, WADA is using anti-doping regulations to police personal lifestyle and social activities that are unrelated to sporting performance. On this basis, it is concluded that WADA's focus and resources should return to enforcing sporting values related to doping rather than policing athletes’ lifestyles, and it is therefore suggested that the ban on marijuana and similar recreational drugs should be lifted.