People from all walks of life like marijuana. They like the way it makes them feel, and they like the benefits – mental or physical – that it brings them.

With the Summer Olympics going on in London, the issue of athletes and marijuana has been in the news, especially with the expulsion of judko athlete Nicholas Delpopolo for testing positive for cannabis.

Marijuana does not make you run faster or jump higher, at least according to any empirical and anecdotal evidence I have ever heard. It is likely on the Olympic banned list because it’s illegal in most countries. Yet marijuana does help with pain relief, which could give an athlete an advantage. But there are some anti-pain agents that Olympians are allowed to take, like codeine.

When you choose a path in life that is supposed to take you to the Olympics, you have to play by their rules, and their rules are strict in many cases. Obviously marijuana use doesn’t hamper an athlete’s path to the Olympics, unless they get caught of course. But even then, if you’re talented enough, you can get past it and go on to even greater glory, like Michael Phelps.

Getting caught just before or during the Olympics is certainly going to cost you dearly, to be so close to your dream and have it slip away. Delpopolo says he inadvertently ate a brownie containing marijuana before the games, and if that’s the case, it’s definatley very bad luck.

It just goes to show that marijuana doesn’t keep people from their dreams, but marijuana prohibition does.

- Joe Klare