Joanna,

Thank you for sharing this.

As cannabis legality and usage spreads, this is important information.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

'Those surveyed say they felt that' should be inserted before the word Cannabis in your findings.
There is no proof here so you cannot simply say that it is effective without backing it up.
I hope the rest of your research is far less sloppy than this.

This 100%. If this is purely based off anecdotal survey responses, then it isn't science at all.

I feel like shaving my legs saves me 50W on the bike

I would like to clarify that this study was approved by an Institutional Review Board prior to our initiating the survey. The abstract I posted was accepted via peer-review. Our methodology is meticulous and science based and we can therefore use the results to make some conclusions. Anecdotal evidence is when people gather around and say whether or not cannabis works for them or not. A study of this type adds to the growing evidence-based literature on the positive and adverse effects of cannabis. If you notice, in the title I called these preliminary results and not the final word. We will be conducting other similar studies to determine if these findings can be replicated in other populations.

I think the topic you've chosen to study is fascinating and there is a need to learn more. However, the methodology is inherently flawed. Self-selection bias with surveys is massive and there is simply no actual scientific testing being administered.

For this to be in any way valid, I would want to see results from these athletes coming from a lab or some form of actual hard data. Are they actually recovering faster? Do they actually sleep better? How do you measure "less pain"?

Simply emailing out a survey and getting a bunch of people who use THC/CBD to say "yeah man, i think this stuff works" isn't science and no conclusions should be drawn off that.

you mean aside from attracting more funding and further support for potential additional studies on the ways cannabis is used by athletes in order to determine whether or not there are verifiable benefits for its use in recovery??

I'm not read in the literature, but I think up until now there probably hasn't been a whole lot of research on the subject. Now that it is gaining popularity and becoming increasingly more legalized, I think this is a good way to determine if this is a good avenue to research. This is preliminary after all and the author is establishing grounds for why his research is directed towards its study - I imagine anyways.

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When I am stoned I sleep like a baby. When I am stoned I don’t feel much pain. So weed must work?

Lol, look who just finished psych 101

The plural of anecdote is not data.
Self-reported, uncontrolled, no identification of confounders. Much to my dismay, this is useless other than establishing THC and/or CBD consumption.

There has been better at 8th grade science fairs

Wow, I know ST is harsh, but really???? I conducted an IRB approved study and appealed to ST to help fill it out. I wanted to share my results to maintain goodwill and to perhaps help inform athletes about the benefits and adverse effects of cannabis. Instead, I am being denigrated for no apparent reason. The field of epidemiology is largely based on questionnaire studies. I do not understand the venom behind the comments. I am merely trying to unravel some of the questions regarding cannabis use. I see that this is not the place for sharing peer-reviewed information. This was an ABSTRACT with preliminary data.

Self reporting is soft...I can make the results up and no matter of peer review will change that...….the argument to be made in the case of pain would be something like this: does cannabis block pain receptors chemically like opioids do? Using an opioid who's mechanism of action is known, as the standard, how does cannabis measure up chemically?

When I get drunk I hurt less or "perceive" pain less ( assuming no hang over) but does that mean the pain is really blocked like with pain meds? That answer would be much stronger science.

I’m not trying to be harsh but info presented as ‘cannabis’ without distinguishing if it’s hemp-based CBD (WADA legal) or marijuana (varied legality) creates more consumer confusion than clarity. This is a huge issue and critically important for people to understand.

Marijuana and hemp are both cannabis plants, which contain cannabinoids. THC is the most recognized cannabinoid compound—it creates the stoney effect—and is found in higher concentrations in former.

CBD is another cannabinoid found in higher concentrations in hemp, which was legalized in 2018 Farm Bill. Products with less than .3% THC can be bought just about everywhere. CBD is purported to have numerous qualities to help lower inflammation, reduce pain, help with sleep, etc. Because of how CBD was scheduled until recently it was very difficult to study, which is why there’s more anecdotal and preliminary research than comprehensive.

Ah, i see what you did wrong. You didn't once mention whether they should hold their hands higher and at what angle the extensions should be at.

I don't see anything wrong with the presentation. You did exactly what you stated you would do from the beginning and reported self-reported usage of cannabis products and their perceived affects on the targeted athelete population.

Just let them quibble like letsrun.

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And there are 3rd graders who understand how to give constructive criticism better than you?

@ the OP, thanks for sharing. It's nice to see the results of your surveys and the conclusions you drew. Clearly it's something that we will be seeing more in depth and controlled studies of in the future.

Are you going to do more studies on this, or was it a one off?

But that is why epidemiology is shit, right? People lie, or fool themselves or don't understand. There is a reason why they have started monitoring people in nutrition science. Peoples response on questionaries is bad at best and flat out lies at worst. Hope you guys find a better way of doing research in the future :)

Today's Random Epidemiology Study:

"Cannabis" can cause "better sleep and faster recovery" for "Slowtwitch athletes"

Kind of blows my mind how a former world champ, Olympian, MS from Northwestern and PhD from John Hopkins can post results of a study on a topic that is probably of interest to a good % of triathletes on this board only to get sassy “feedback” from a bunch of Mamils on Slowtwitch whose credentials (I presume) include taking Psych 101 in undergrad 30 years ago?

Gotta love “the internets”.

Thanks for putting this together, it's a topic that has always peaked my interested.

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Team Zoot 2023

I wonder how many people identified as waste-oids or burnouts.

It can be used to reduce anxiety, but can also cause anxiety?

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Not everything is as it seems -Mr. Miyagi

It is not uncommon for drugs to have opposite effects. In the case of cannabis, it may have to do with dosing, route of administration, cannabinoid used, or any number of reasons. We will be examining this further as we proceed with our analyses.

While we didn't ask specifically about hemp derived CBD, we did ask if participants used CBD, THC, or both.

Was it studied on whether any of the athletes developed the munchies and how that affected performance? “Fatlete chasing down chips, pretzels and Clif Bars with Cokes at aid station #1!!!”