High on sport

The objective of this thesis is to morally analyze the inclusion of cannabis on the anti-doping list. Cannabis is relatively often identified in athlete’s test samples and this causes a lot of controversy about the question whether cannabis should be included on the anti-doping list. In this thesis the author argues that the three criteria WADA uses to include a substance or method on the anti-doping list, do not provide a morally right justification for the inclusion of cannabis. He argues: (1) Cannabis is not performance enhancing. (2) Although cannabis can be harmful to the health of an athlete, he argues that this should only be a matter of concern for sport organisations if the substance is performance enhancing. (3) The author provides a definition of “the spirit of sport” which is grounded on the normative framework that makes a sport into what it is. Using this definition he argues that cannabis is not contrary to “the spirit of sport”. He adds two other arguments against the inclusion of cannabis on the anti-doping list: (1) Prohibiting the use of cannabis is interfering with the privacy rights of athletes. (2) Given the limited resources of the anti-doping organisations, it is morally wrong to spend any resources on the prohibition of cannabis. He concludes from these arguments that it is morally wrong to include cannabis on the anti-doping list.