Funny coming from a “sport” that’s all about punching somebody in the head as hard as you possibly can. But woteva!
Dangers of Consumption and Exposure to Cannabis
On February 13, 2025, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, on behalf of the Unarmed Combat Commission, notified the WBC that an oral fluid sample collected from WBC World Champion Claressa Shields tested positive for the presence of marihuana (THC). The Michigan Commission had collected a sample from Champion Shield after her February 2, 2025 title defense against Daniella Perkins.
In the spirit of complete clarity and transparency, the WBC would like to reiterate that THC is not a banned substance according to the VADA prohibited substances list. VADA is the agency that administers the WBC’s anti-doping program known as the WBC Clean Boxing Program (WBC CBP). Simply put, Marihuana (THC) is not a performance enhancing drug. Therefore, Champion Shields will not be found at fault nor will she receive any penalty with regards to her status as champion. However, the WBC will initiate an administrative process with Champion Shields in connection with the Michigan Commission’s finding to address the matter focusing on the health and social effects. The WBC will not comment on the matter until that process is completed.
The public perception of the effects of Cannabis-based products has changed dramatically in recent years. Our daily contemporary lives reflect many important and evolving changes in our laws, culture, and customs. In 2016, the World Boxing Council and the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association created the WBC CBP. WBC champions and rated fighters must always try to be a positive example and role model to young athletes and fans around the world. The WBC CBP seeks to stop the use of performance enhancing drugs in boxing. Regardless of its legality, any drug use is incongruous to clean sport and many aspects of day-to-day life; it is right down dangerous.
Consumption of Cannabis-based products is now legal in many states in the U.S., and in some countries around the world; both for medicinal and recreational use. In fact, the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ) does not consider cannabis a banned substance in out-of-competition testing and it is only banned IN COMPETITION. Several other sports’ anti-doping organizations do not test for cannabis because they do not consider its use to enhance athletic performance. However, many state commissions in the U.S., and some sports organizations still consider Cannabinoids to be banned substances and penalize athletes who test positive for them.
Do those facts mean that athletes in general, and boxers in particular, should feel free to become exposed to or use Cannabis without health concerns and ignore the detrimental effects to their athletic performance? The answer is a resounding NO! Marihuana is a drug that alters mental functioning, inhibits athletic performance, and can be downright dangerous.
Boxing is not a game: boxers do not “play” boxing. Instead, boxing is a contact sport that requires its participants to exercise extreme care of their physical and mental health throughout their whole careers. Boxing rules and procedures have evolved to minimize the inherent risks that it presents to its participants. Every aspect of boxing counts; boxers need conditioning, nutrition, training protocols, healthy lifestyle, and sufficient rest. In order to minimize preventable injuries boxers must be in top physical and mental condition at all times.
Multiple respected scientific publications have documented the detrimental effects of using cannabis. The WBC at all times aims to bring those dangers to the attention of all fighters: cannabis can hurt your future in boxing and threaten your quality of life during and after boxing.
It is widely documented that Cannabis use produces, among others, the following detrimental effects:
– long-term memory and learning impairments;
– changes in brain structure and decision-making, especially in cases of extended use;
– heart and vascular system pathologies resulting in increased heart rate, decreased blood pressure resulting in syncope (loss of consciousness), and respiratory depression (troubled breathing);
– diminished alertness and reduction in the body’s ability to consistently perform at a high level;
– impaired lung function in cases of long-term Marihuana smoking;
– acute psychosis in situations of excessive and daily use of cannabis; and
– impaired attention, memory loss, delirium, and gait imbalance.
It is also extensively documented that Marihuana can be contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals, microbes, and other drugs and substances that are prohibited under the WBC CBP.
Marihuana also present addiction and/or dependence issues. Again, those effects are well-known and documented. It is hard to imagine that the habitual consumption of Marihuana does not have a profound effect in the performance of boxers while training and/or fighting. Exposure to Marihuana in a social environment can result in a Cannabinoid adverse finding for an athlete in a jurisdiction that deems those substances as banned.
The WBC Clean Boxing Program is designed to encourage participating and non-participating boxers to live a clean life and to maintain the highest level of safe athletic performance. Those principles are most important in boxing which is intrinsically dangerous and can lead to short-term and long-term injuries. While cannabis consumption or exposure might not lead to a penalty under the WBC CBP, it can certainly lead to actions and penalties under the WBC Code of ethics and under the regulations of many jurisdictions and anti-doping organizations.
The WBC will not stand still while boxers publicly celebrate the use of cannabis or engage in reprehensible behavior while under its influence. The WBC strongly and resolutely condemns such behavior in particular, and boxers’ use of cannabis in general. Boxing is the greatest sport in the world; it is honorable and should be conducted under fair play and justice principles at all times.
Don’t Forget to check Vada’s Prohibited List Periodically: VADA Prohibited List 2025.
https://wbcboxing.com/en/dangers-of-consumption-and-exposure-to-cannabis/
