Sources & Methodology — CannabisForAthletes.org
Primary sources: the WADA 2026 Prohibited List, USADA, NCAA Sport Science Institute, league CBA texts, peer-reviewed sports-medicine journals, JAMA Internal Medicine, *Sports Medicine*, *Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research*, named clinicians.
Every factual claim on CannabisForAthletes.org is traced to a specific source. This page lists the primary documents, journals, and clinicians that inform our content. For methodology and evidence hierarchy, see Editorial Standards.
Anti-Doping Codes & Official Documents
- WADA 2026 Prohibited List
- Effective January 1, 2026 (approved by the WADA Executive Committee on September 11, 2025). Section S8 "Cannabinoids" governs in-competition prohibition at 150 ng/mL urinary THC-COOH (180 ng/mL Decision Limit). Available at wada-ama.org.
- USADA — Cannabis: A Reasoned Approach (April 2022)
- USADA's policy paper detailing the case for cannabis policy reform within the constraints of being a Code signatory. Issued in the wake of the Sha'Carri Richardson case.
- WADA Executive Committee press releases
- September 23, 2022 (Sydney) retention vote citing LiEAG/Ethics Expert Advisory Group "spirit of sport" reasoning; September 22, 2023 (Shanghai) reaffirmation; September 11, 2025 approval of the 2026 list.
- WADA International Standard for TUE (ISTUE 2026)
- Article 4.1 four-criterion framework for Therapeutic Use Exemptions.
- NCAA Sport Science Institute
- NCAA Current Findings on Student-Athlete Substance Use (January 2024 release of the 2022-23 Health and Wellness Study, n=23,272). CSMAS recommendations and Cannabinoid Summit (December 2022) materials.
League CBA Texts and Modifications
- NBA-NBPA CBA
- Ratified April 26, 2023; effective July 1, 2023; runs through 2029-30. Removes marijuana from the Prohibited Substances List; permits passive (≤50%) cannabis investment and active CBD-only promotion (≤0.3% THC by dry weight).
- NFL-NFLPA CBA (March 2020) and December 6, 2024 modification
- March 2020: removed suspensions, raised threshold to 150 ng/mL, narrowed to ~2-week training-camp window. December 6, 2024: raised threshold to 350 ng/mL, replaced game-check fines with $15K-$20K fines for first/second offenses (NFL.com; ESPN; Marijuana Moment).
- MLB-MLBPA Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program (December 12, 2019)
- Removed natural cannabinoids from drugs-of-abuse; treatment-not-discipline framework; alcohol-equivalent posture.
- MLS-MLSPA CBA (February 2021 extension; through 2027)
- Preserves WADA-aligned substance-of-abuse program due to FIFA affiliation. The MLS posture has not been updated for cannabis as of May 2026.
Peer-Reviewed Sports-Medicine and Cannabinoid Journals
- Sports Medicine (Springer)
- Source for the Ewell et al. 2023 cycle-ergometry study and Isenmann et al. 2024 muscle-damage/CBD signals.
- Sports Medicine - Open (Springer)
- McCartney et al. 2020 CBD-and-athletes review; Burr et al. 2021 follow-up review.
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (ACSM)
- Source for the foundational Renaud and Cormier 1986 acute cycle-ergometry study and historic ECS-and-exercise literature.
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Dietrich and McDaniel 2004 endocannabinoid hypothesis of the runner's high.
- Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine
- Green et al. 2001 NCAA prevalence; Docter et al. 2020 elite-cohort cannabis review.
- Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research (Mary Ann Liebert)
- Burns et al. 2021 FDA Warning Letter content analysis; primary cannabinoid clinical research.
- JAMA Internal Medicine & JAMA
- Ware et al. 2011 chronic-pain trial; Bonn-Miller et al. 2017 CBD-mislabeling study (21% THC contamination, 69% mislabeling overall); Pletcher et al. 2012 marijuana-and-pulmonary-function study.
- Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
- Hatchett et al. 2020 CBD-DOMS pilot; Cochrane et al. 2025 muscle-damage markers; Sahinovic et al. 2024/2025 CBD pre-time-trial trials.
- GSSI Sports Science Exchange #218 (Burr & Cheung, 2021)
- The most-cited industry-funded review on cannabis and athletic performance. We note the funding context; conclusions align with the broader academic literature.
Named Clinicians and Research Programs
- Dr. Kevin Hill
- Director of Addiction Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; co-chair of the NFL/NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee.
- Dr. Mark Wallace and Dr. Thomas Marcotte
- UC San Diego Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research; co-PIs on the NFL Joint PMC vaporized 4% THC / 12% CBD / combined / placebo trial.
- Dr. Patrick Neary
- University of Regina; NFL Joint PMC cannabinoid concussion-neuroprotection research.
- Dr. Sue Sisley
- Scottsdale Research Institute; longstanding researcher on cannabis-veterans-PTSD trials, with read-across relevance to athlete mental-health work.
- Dr. Marcel Bonn-Miller
- Lead author of the 2017 JAMA CBD-mislabeling study and prolific cannabinoid-clinical-research investigator.
- Dr. Donald Abrams
- UCSF; long-running clinical cannabis researcher whose work anchors much of the modern oncology and pain-and-cannabis evidence base.
- Dr. Orrin Devinsky
- NYU Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center; lead investigator on Epidiolex pivotal trials — relevant to athletes for CBD pharmacology.