Effective immediately, basketball players in Division 1 NCAA teams are able to smoke marijuana without any repercussions. The plant has been removed from the banned substances list.
Five months ago this rule change was proposed, arguing that cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug therefore should be allowed recreationally, similar to alcohol.
“The NCAA drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage. The council’s focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use,” said the chair of the council, Josh Whitman, in a press release.
Representative Early Blumenauer points out that this decision comes as runner Sha’Carri Richardson just qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She was suspended from competing in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo due to a positive THC test result.
Cannabinoids will be addressed like other non-performance enhancing drugs like alcohol. NCAA members will focus on harm-reduction strategies problematic cannabis use, centering health of student-athletes.
— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) June 25, 2024
Hopefully other organizations, including the WADA in charge of the Olympics will take note of this and do something similar with its pretty destructive policy against marijuana.
Read the original story at Marijuana Moment.
