Westword
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Dear Stoner: Watching Joey Chestnut crush hot dogs had me wondering: Are professional
eaters tested for weed before competing?
Anaya
Dear Anaya: Smoking a joint before hitting up a buffet might make you the hungriest person at the table, but that’s not what eating competitions are about. Slamming down as many hot dogs as one gullet can hold inside of ten minutes is about how fast you can eat and how much your insides can stretch. There are drugs and medical procedures that can actually help people accomplish that, but cannabis isn’t one of those eating aids.
There are drugs and medical procedures that can actually help people eat more food at a faster pace, but cannabis isn’t one of them.
Eric Gruneisen
Major League Eating, the organization responsible for overseeing Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest, doesn’t test for recreational or performance-enhancing drugs, according to MLE communications director George Shea, and that includes cannabis. So Joey Chestnut could be on whatever he pleases before taking the stage every July 4, though I highly doubt cannabis is his first choice if he wants to win. If only the Olympics and USA Track and Field understood that, maybe Sha’Carri Richardson would be wearing a medal this summer. Not everyone’s as cool as the folks running pie-eating contests, though.
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