Angelina Blessed thinks high-level athletes are a perfect study group when it comes to exploring how cannabis may be able to help manage a range of health issues, calm the mind and boost performance.
What worked for her “was a mixture of cannabis therapy, a little bit of time off, heading to the sensory deprivation tank and lowering my cortisol levels,” she said. “The dosage [for cannabis] that I would take for recovery is very, very different than the dosage I would take for performance, and both of those things take a while to get to,” Blessed explained. “I’m now training harder than I ever was,” she said.
Muay Thai fighter Richard Pham told attendees that, as an athlete, “longevity is the name of the game and anything I could do to preserve that is very important.” About five years ago, Pham began using CBD oil after sparring, which would help get rid of his headaches and relieve the tension in his head.
Along the way, there were also plenty of white envelopes, sometimes containing anti-inflammatories or painkillers. “They’ll help you sleep, they’ll help you play, they’ll help your knee feel better, they’ll help your shoulder feel better,” Nattress said he was told. “I certainly wasn’t an All-Star; I was a grinder and I had to earn my way on the ice every day,” he said.
Mike Mihelic, a former offensive lineman for the CFL and now CEO of medical cannabis prescription service Cannascribe, Inc., can attest to that. Counting “a couple of concussions” among his injuries during his playing days, Mihelic said he first began using cannabis as a recovery tool post-game, then as an aid during training and now as preventive treatment. “The benefits from CBD, I think, are just beginning to be found out and I’ve noticed a difference from using it the last few years.