Marijuana
I have been meaning to write a blog about this for some time, but due to more prying issues (University, Competitions etc, etc I have found little time. After opening our own twitter page BJJScience Twitter I started following Jiu Jitsuism Podcast and on there first podcast (worth a listen) they talk about the use of Marijuana.
So here I am....
Firstly - Marijuana is considered a class B drug in the UK. This means possession of Marijuana can afford the 'culprit up to 5 years in prison along with an unlimited fine (or both) and supply/production will kindly give you up to 14 years in jail and unlimited fine (or both). I think by that alone, the UK Governments position on Marijuana is pretty clear!
For those out there who listen to Joe Rogan, you will be well ad versed to his personnel opinions on marijuana (along with Eddie Bravo). Joe Rogan Experience (fantastic listening). Both of whom hold relatively high positions in the MMA/Grappling/BJJ world (through commentary and participation/support).
Many people have highlighted the fact that Marijuana use in BJJ is a wide spread phenomenon that occurs in every gym. I would like to quell this myth. I have trained in various gyms with a wide range of people and to date I don't recall training or rolling with anyone who was under the influence of Marijuana - that is not to say no one has been, but it was not obvious to me. Likewise many in the sport/art are extremely health conscious and probably live much healthier lives than may I know. I would never expect a parent or would be attendant to think that BJJ'ers are simply 'pot heads' who smoke all day and roll around in the evening - that is not the case... Again this may happen but it has never been an obvious trait that I have seen. Lastly, this may be a due to the relatively stringent laws that the UK apply - or it could be simply that UK BJJ participants simply don't feel the need to smoke Marijuana prior to training.
I'm going to look at this from two stand points. The use of Marijuana for medicinal purposes and any effects documented on the physiological performance due to Marijuana use.
Medicinal Marijuana
I have spent a few hours researching science journals into the use of Marijuana and found on Science Direct 14,313 journals and articles on 'Marijuana medicine' keyword search. I think it is fair to say that plenty of research has been done. I have to clarify that I haven't even ready 1% of all of these journals so can't comment on them all. I can't even give you a general consensus on them as the research areas are so vast... I chose a few journals that caught my eye. Firstly a journal by Thomas F Denson and Mitchell Earleywine 'Decreased depression in marijuana users.' To summarize 'Those who consume marijuana occasionally or even daily have lower levels of depressive symptoms than those who have never tried marijuana' (p. 741). The reason I chose this one, was down to my own thoughts, I was always led to believe that the use of Marijuana led to depression. Now this is one Journal and there are thousands out there - many more may state the opposite but this test was conducted on over 9,000 people hence the reason I felt it strong enough to quote. What I need to highlight from this Journal however is that medicinal users and recreational users were separated. Medicinal users did demonstrate more depressed moods than recreational users.
Now this is of personnel interest to me as a sufferer of osteoarthritis - Canada it seems is relatively liberal in its view on medicinal Marijuana. In 2006 a small survey was conducted which highlighted 93% of users reported moderate or greater pain relief, what was reported with this was that 76% reported side effects (spasticity, nausea, anorexia, insomnia, anxiety, mood, sweats and GI/GU spasms). (Lynch et al, 2006). This one journal is suggesting that a high percentage of medicinal users of marijuana see pain relief however side effects can be present in over three quarters of the participants. Many will argue that chemical pain inhibitors are far more dangerous for you than marijuana but I have no research to hand to support or negate that so I will not comment.
Many more resources are out there - many will contradict what I have highlighted but these two subjects were close to me personally (not depression as such, but this was always a belief of mine so interesting to see it may not be the case after all).
Marijuana and physiological effects
This wasn't as forthcoming when researching. Research is available but participant levels are relatively low and methods have been criticized by the researchers themselves. Ethical reasons being one and legal restrictions being another reason highlighted by many.
One journal that jumped out at me whilst researching (briefly I must stress) was the effects on sGaw after marijuana use. Firstly sGaw in lamens terms is volumic airway conductance which is linked to the conductance attempts to correct the differences in lung volume. Seven separate studies were conducted and six of the seven found an increase in sGaw after marijuana consumption - the range of participants effected was between 8% and 48%. Two the of the six highlighted that the effects lasted for up to 60 minutes. I wanted to find the long term effects of non tobacco smoking in Marijuana and this was also found in this Journal. Of all 14 studies marijuana smoking did show an increase risk of various respiratory complications:
Now one of the main reasons I chose this Journal, barring its specific relevance to lung production after smoking marijuana was its use by Pest et al (2013) and quoted by JiuJitsuism Podcast. In that Journal various other statistics are used to demonstrate the effects of (or lack of) performance due to the use of Marijuana - One relevant statement was this ' Avakian et al (1979) demonstrated that double-blind administration of marijuana as 7.5 mg of Δ9-THC or placebo did not affect blood pressure, ventilation or oxygen uptake during submaximal exercise (15 min at 50% of Vo2max), however did increase heart rate and the rate-pressure product at rest and during both exercise and recovery.'
My Summary
After reading through various Journals (all with their own agendas I might add, and many with contradicting results) it is difficult to determine the long term negative/positive effects of Marijuana. Statistics above tell you that actual performance is not effected during sub maximal exercise - but when is BJJ ever sub maximal. Effects after are however seen.
Now it is not my position to take a moral stand point on this - after all I wanted to present facts that were present to me. What you do is entirely up to you.... and there are hundreds of different effects positives and negatives of Marijuana use.
I would like to think that those involved in the BJJ game are mentally strong enough to choose their own path in life and don't follow. Be that the good or bad, legal or illegal. Recreational drug 'abuse' occurs in society and by that it will occur in BJJ.
This is not a Journal to support the use of Marijuana and likewise demonize it. I wanted to see the effects both medicinal, physiological and in fact mentally.
Go roll.....
Reference List:
Avakian, E. V., Horvath, S. M., Michael, E. D., and Jacobs, S. (1979), 'Effects of Marihuana on Cardiorespiratory Response to Submaximal Exercise,' Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vol. 26, pp. 777-781
Denson, T. F. , and Earleywine, M. (2006), 'Decreased Depression in Marijuana Users,' Addicitive Behaviors, Vol. 31, pp. 738-742
Lynch, M. E., Young, J., and Clark, A. J. (2006), 'A Case Series of Patients Using Medicinal Marihuana for Management of Chronic Pain Under the Canadian Marijuana Medical Access Regulations,' Journal of Pain and Symptoms Management, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 497-501
Pest, H. D., Angadi, S. S., Burtscher, M., and Roberts, C. K. (2013), 'The Effects of Caffeine, Nicotine, Ethanol and Tetrahydrocannabinol on Exercise Performance,' Nutrition and Metabolism, Vol. 10, No. 71