The ethics of hurting for entertainment

> Are hunting and fishing sports?

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

| unting and fishing are
traditions that go back

thousands of years. Occurring
in a variety of forms ranging
from organized international
competition to a father
bonding with his son, the art
of stalking animals is one of
the largest “sport” industries.

An example of the wide
popularity of the hunting “sport”
can be put in material form
when one looks at the number of
hunting apparel shops scattered
across North America. Stores
specializing primarily in hunting
and fishing equipment can be
found almost everywhere. These
games are even more popular
at an amateur level. More so
than other organized sports,
particularly in rural areas.

But does the pursuit of
animals—particularly the
majority variations where they
are killed after—really count
as a “sport”? There is no official
definition of a sport, although
the international organization
known as SportAccord is widely
regarded as the moderator of all
sport. As an organization, they
encompass all international
sports federations at a world
level. Among other definitions,
their criterion concludes that

a “sport” cannot be harmful
to any living creature.

Animal rights are a
complicated issue, and whether
or not hunting/fishing is moral
is irrelevant to its sport status.
However, one could argue the
animals pursued are at a distinct
disadvantage. While game and
fish can easily elude the player,
even if they think they have
a sure target, there are only a
distinct few that could fight
back against their pursuer.

SportAccord offers
many sports in a category
that is animal-based, such as
equestrianism. Equestrian-based
sports involve the horse as a
willing player. The human and
animal work together to achieve
a specific target. In hunting and
fishing, the animal becomes the
target. Some forms of hunting/
fishing do not harm the animal,
such as catch-and-release
style fishing. Nevertheless, in
most types the goal is to track
down and kill another being.

None of the Olympic
sports involve trying to hurt an
opponent. Ideally, nobody ever
gets hurt in a match. Hunting
and fishing exist in a weird
state where the animals are
targets, but also opponents.
Most of the thrill and challenge
of hunting and fishing comes
from the struggle of the animal
to avoid being captured.

Most forms of hunting and
fishing have a common shared
ethic among their participants—
they involve eating what they
lll. In this sense, they may be
seen as necessities. Indeed,
many origins of the games may
stem from essential survival.

On the other hand, many
human-centred sports involve
capturing an opponent in
some way. Most forms of tag,
capture-the-flag, baseball,
and football all involve
chasing down and detaining
opponents as a main objective.

Marljuana 1n sport

>Is ita PED?

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

arijuana’s 21st century boom

has led to the reformation
of the medicinal drug industry.
With its booming popularity, and
growing legalization, it will be
interesting to see whether cross-
border sports such as hockey,
baseball, and even football, will
be embracing the new craze.

At the moment, marijuana
is seen as a painkiller of sorts.
Although touted as non-
addictive, unlike other painkillers
that are legalized, there has been
a multi-year long on-going debate
on the subject. Nonetheless, the
new breakthroughs in the field
of medical marijuana have led
to its resurgence as the discreet
painkiller of choice amongst
athletes.
Discreet is the key

word there, as nearly all the
professional sport associations
have banned the use of marijuana
in any form, including the NFL,
MLB, and NBA. Each has their
own policies for dealing with
offenders, but none more so than

the NEL. In the 2015 season alone,
19 players were suspended for a
cumulative total of 70 games for
breaching the substance abuse
policy.

These restrictive policies
were put in place before the 21st
century breakthroughs, when it
was still thought the marijuana
usage enhanced athletic
performance. This could not be
farther from the truth, as research
has now shown that marijuana
usage impairs performance and
the ability to focus. While the
painkilling effect is still relevant,
the loss of the ability to focus,
and the impairment of overall
performance makes for the use of
marijuana to be quite detrimental
to athletes in the middle of a
game.

As for its use outside of a
game setting, marijuana isa
painkiller similar to the opioids
painkillers that are legally
issued to athletes. Those opioids
are a derivative of the poppy,
and have been nicknamed the
pharmaceutical heroin. Along
with the nickname, the addictive
trend of heroin has followed it.

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The leagues that have banned
the use of medicinal marijuana
encourage the use of opioid
painkillers instead. It is quite the
hypocrisy.

So what is the future of
marijuana usage in sport? One
could hope that the associations
legalize medical marijuana usage
right away, but that would bea
jump. Instead, let’s look a league
that has a much different policy
regarding marijuana usage.

The NHL has a much
more liberal policy regarding
recreational drug use. Players

must submit to a drug and
PED test at the beginning of
the season. Players that fail the
PED test are punished without
question, but the result of players
failing the recreational drug
test is both the NHL and players
union reaching out to offer aid to
the player. While the league has
no punishment policy in place
for marijuana usage, most teams
have their own “clubhouse” rules.
While this means that
marijuana users in the NHL still
run the risk of punishment, it
will never be direct punishment

 

  

Illustration by Ed Appleby

However, no international

sports to this date, involve

consuming the flesh of the loser.
Perhaps W.S Gilbert summed

up the debate when he said,

“Deer hunting would be fine

sport, if only the deer had guns.”

from the league. This is a much
different picture than the other
associations that have banned
the use of marijuana. Perhaps
this is even the future of sport
leagues and their view towards
recreational drugs.

With the imminent
legalization of marijuana in
Canada, sport associations
associated with Canada will have
to make a decision. More than
likely, things will begin to look
more similar to the NHL, with
leagues only monitoring usage to
offer treatment if needed, instead
of moderating the activities of
players. For the CFL in particular,
this could mean a boon of NFL
talent, as suspended players due
to the substance abuse policy
could make their way north to the
more green-friendly leagues.

While this in no way fixes
any associations’ marijuana
usage policy, it sure puts a lot of
pressure on them to change—a
change that would be for the
better, as the restriction policies
are only in place because it was
once thought that marijuana was
a PED.