The suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson over a positive marijuana test has led many to call for changes to Olympics rules\u2014with even President Joe Biden, top White House officials and American sports regulators saying it might be time to reconsider punishing athletes for cannabis.<\/p>\n
But how did the sports prohibition get imposed in the first place? Marijuana Moment spoke to the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to gain further insights into how the policy unfolded, which turns out to be the result of pressure from the U.S. itself.<\/p>\n
Some of those who\u2019ve defended the action against Richardson have made the case that, since cannabis is strictly prohibited in other countries, it wouldn\u2019t make sense to set aside an international rule just because legalization is advancing in the U.S. But in reality, it was the U.S. in the 1990s that played the leading role in bullying the athletic governing body to add cannabis to the list of banned substances for the Olympics in the first place.<\/p>\n
For example, then-U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, who served under President Bill Clinton, sent a 10-page memo to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1998 that said the games \u201cmust adopt a comprehensive anti-drug program\u201d that should include punishing participants who test positive for recreational drugs like marijuana, according to an Associated Press report<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe raise Olympic athletes up on international pedestals for all the world\u2019s children to look up to as role models\u2014it is vital that the message they send is drug free,\u2033 McCaffrey, then the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which provided $1 million in funding to IOC to combat drug use, said. \u201cThe goal of this whole effort must be to prevent Olympic medals and the Olympic movement from being tarnished by drugs.\u2033<\/p>\n In this way, the U.S.\u2019s aggressive push to criminalize drugs at home translated into policy positions on the world athletics stage. And the Clinton administration prided itself on influencing IOC to enact the change, touting its efforts in a 2000 ONDCP report on \u201cAgency Accomplishments and Significant Actions.\u201d<\/p>\n Following news that a Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal tested positive for marijuana, ONDCP \u201cbecome seriously concerned about the impact of this victory on youth attitudes toward drugs,\u201d the report from the drug czar\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n The medal \u201cseemed to directly undercut our messages to young people that drug use undermines a child\u2019s opportunities for success,\u201d it continued<\/a>. \u201cONDCP began a wave of efforts to get the IOC to ban marijuana from the games. In short course, these efforts were successful and the IOC banned marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Richard Pound, who served as the first president of WADA, spoke to Marijuana Moment about the origins of the cannabis ban and said that the U.S. was \u201creally quite adamant that [cannabis] was on the list\u201d of prohibited substances.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. was a leader in saying\u2014and this was the ONDCP saying this\u2014\u2019in our view, marijuana is the entry-level drug. If you can keep people from using marijuana, they don\u2019t graduate to cocaine and heroin and some of the other the other chemical variations of these things.’\u201d<\/p>\n Pound, who represented Canada as a swimmer in the Olympics and then served as vice president of IOC before leading WADA, said he initially had a strained relationship with McCaffrey, as ONDCP had taken a position that \u201cbasically nothing we did or wanted or proposed was was any good.\u201d<\/p>\n But after requesting a meeting at the White House to go over shared principles and policies, the official said \u201cwell, it doesn\u2019t sound like we have any significant differences at all,\u201d according to Pound, and the relationship became productive.<\/p>\n Pound told Marijuana Moment that he feels the international committee that decides on substance bans should take another look at cannabis and he personally believes the policy could be amended to make a positive THC test punishable by a warning without the threat of suspension. He\u2019s perplexed that Team USA decided to penalize Richardson beyond the internationally prescribed 30-day ban by choosing not to let her run in a relay that falls outside of that window.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have thought, on the face of things, it would make sense to try and have your best team in the field,\u201d he said. In a recent interview<\/a> with The Washington Post, he also said that he felt the WADA drug code would soon be amended in to exclude marijuana from the banned substances list.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, McCaffrey told Politico<\/a> that he doesn\u2019t recall pushing for the cannabis ban specifically and was more focused on performance enhancing drugs like steroids. And Pound said he couldn\u2019t recall any specific conversation he had with the then-ONDCP director on marijuana policy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it had a full buy-in from Barry or not, I can\u2019t recall discussing it,\u201d Pound said. \u201cBut that was certainly the the view of the United States. Whether it was a ditch that he was prepared to die in or not, I don\u2019t know. But it certainly was a U.S. position.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that while the U.S. had an outsized influence on these types of matters, the desire to add cannabis to the list of banned substances was \u201cshared by many, many, many other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n In any case, Richardson\u2019s suspension for using marijuana in a legal state after learning news of her mother\u2019s death has elicited widespread calls for reform in the governing bodies of the Olympics.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the White House press secretary and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) both expressed sympathy for the runner and indicated that it may be time for a reevaluation of the marijuana prohibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n Press Secretary Jen Psaki previously declined to condemn Olympics officials\u2019 sanction<\/a> on Richardson when asked about the issue at a briefing with reporters last week, but she told CNN in the newer comments that the case highlights the need to \u201ctake another look\u201d at the rules on cannabis, especially in light of the decision to bar the athlete from a second event that fell outside the scope of the 30-day suspension<\/p>\n USA Track & Field also said this week that international policy on cannabis punishments for athletes\u00a0\u201cshould be reevaluated.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Biden said on Saturday that while \u201crules are rules,\u201d he also suggested that there\u2019s an open question about whether \u201cthey should remain the rules.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0And that\u2019s notable for a president who has maintained an opposition to adult-use legalization.<\/p>\n A bipartisan collection of members of Congress slammed Richardson\u2019s punishment last week, with leaders of a key House subcommittee sending a scathing letter to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the Anti-Doping Agency, urging the bodies to \u201dstrike a blow for civil liberties and civil rights by reversing this course you are on.\u201d<\/p>\n A separate group of lawmakers also sent a letter to USADA<\/a> on Friday to urge a policy change.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that cannabis does not meet the description of scientifically proven risk or harm to the athlete,\u201d they wrote, \u201cand the USADA is perpetuating stereotypes and rhetoric fueled by the racist War on Drugs by claiming its usage, in private use and outside of competition, violates the \u2018spirit of the sport.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Nevada sports regulators voted on Wednesday to make it so athletes will no longer be penalized over a positive marijuana test<\/a>, with members citing Richardson\u2019s case during the meeting as an example of why the policy is inappropriate.<\/p>\n Advocates have broadly embraced internal marijuana policy reforms at other major professional athletic organizations, arguing that they are long overdue especially given the ever-expanding legalization movement.<\/p>\n NFL\u2019s\u00a0drug testing policy changed demonstrably<\/a>\u00a0last year as part of a collective bargaining agreement, for example. Under the policy, NFL players will not face the possibility of being suspended from games over positive tests for any drug\u2014not just marijuana.<\/p>\n In a similar vein, the MLB decided in 2019 to\u00a0remove cannabis from the league\u2019s list of banned substances<\/a>. Baseball players can consume marijuana without risk of discipline, but officials clarified last year that\u00a0they can\u2019t work while under the influence<\/a>\u00a0and can\u2019t enter into sponsorship contracts with cannabis businesses, at least for the time being.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a temporary NBA policy\u00a0not to randomly drug test players for marijuana<\/a>\u00a0amid the coronavirus pandemic may soon become permanent, the league\u2019s top official said in December. Rather than mandate blanket tests, Commissioner Adam Silver said the league would be reaching out to players who show signs of problematic dependency,\u00a0not those who are \u201cusing marijuana casually.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, a new poll from YouGov found that women are\u00a0notably more likely to oppose Richardson\u2019s suspension<\/a>\u00a0than men are.<\/p>\n Congressional Black Caucus Members Ask Biden To Reverse Marijuana Deportation Cases<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post How U.S. Bullying In The 1990s Led To The Olympics Marijuana Ban Behind Richardson\u2019s Suspension<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson over a positive marijuana test has led many to call for changes to Olympics rules\u2014with even President Joe Biden, top White House officials and American sports regulators saying it might be time to reconsider punishing athletes for cannabis. But how did the sportsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48770,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48769\/revisions\/48770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: How U.S. Bullying In The 1990s Led To The Olympics Marijuana Ban Behind Richardson\u2019s Suspension<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"