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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will conduct a scientific review of marijuana next year to determine whether it should continue an international ban on cannabis use by athletes.<\/p>\n
WADA\u2019s marijuana policy became a major focus this summer following\u00a0the suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson<\/a> from participating in the Olympics over a positive THC test. The organization\u2019s executive committee on Tuesday said it had accepted a recommendation from a drug list advisory board to reexamine the science on marijuana, which could inform a potential policy change.<\/p>\n In a press release, WADA said the panel agreed to conduct the review \u201cfollowing receipt of requests from a number of stakeholders.\u201d It didn\u2019t name those stakeholders, but numerous athletic leagues\u2014as well as lawmakers and President Joe Biden<\/a>\u2014have suggested that the international marijuana ban for athletes should be reconsidered.<\/p>\n The organization added<\/a> that cannabis will remain prohibited through 2022 while the review is underway.<\/p>\n WADA Executive Committee endorses recommendations of non-compliance of eight Anti-Doping Organizations Find out more \u2014 WADA (@wada_ama) September 14, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Richard Pound, who served as the first president of WADA, reacted to the news by telling Marijuana Moment that he\u2019s \u201calways in favor of a scientific review of any substance that is on the Prohibited List so that we can be acting on the basis of established facts, both as to the effects of the substance (if any) and the appropriate range of sanctions (if any).\u201d<\/p>\n In an earlier interview, Pound told Marijuana Moment that the U.S. was \u201creally quite adamant that [cannabis] was on the list\u201d of prohibited substances when the ban was enacted in the 1990s<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) previously reached out to WADA about Richardson\u2019s suspension and received a response in July that similarly explained how the U.S. has played a key role in placing marijuana on the list of prohibited substances<\/a> for international athletes.<\/p>\n Richardson herself said last month that she\u2019s hopeful that her suspension from participating in the Olympics after testing positive for marijuana will lead to an international policy change<\/a>\u00a0for athletes, and she says she would be \u201cblessed\u201d if that happens as a result of her punishment.<\/p>\n The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has\u00a0expressed sympathy for Richardson<\/a>\u00a0and asserted that the rules on marijuana for international athletes \u201cmust change.\u201d The White House press secretary\u2014like USADA\u2014also suggested that it\u00a0may be time for a reevaluation of the cannabis prohibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n USA Track & Field has similarly said that international policy on cannabis punishments for athletes\u00a0\u201cshould be reevaluated.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) was among the lawmakers\u00a0who\u2019ve been critical of Richardson\u2019s suspension<\/a>. He argued in July that it is hypocritical that athletes would be penalized for using marijuana when alcohol use is largely tolerated. And he also said cannabis is only a performance enhancing drug in the context of food eating competitions.<\/p>\n At a separate\u00a0federal commission hearing on international sports<\/a> in July, a representative of USADA said in response to questioning by Cohen that the organization is \u201cheartbroken\u201d over Richardson\u2019s case and supports \u201cliberalization\u201d of current bans.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 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 A temporary NBA policy not 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 Last month it was announced that the online marijuana marketplace Weedmaps is teaming up with NBA star Kevin Durant<\/a>\u00a0for a multi-year partnership that\u2019s aimed at destigmatizing cannabis and showcasing the plant\u2019s potential value for \u201cathlete wellness and recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n Marijuana icon Snoop Dogg also recently argued that sports leagues need to stop testing players for marijuana<\/a> and allow to them to use it as an alternative to prescription opioids.<\/p>\n National Urban League Backs Marijuana Legalization With Licenses Reserved For Impacted Communities<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post World Anti-Doping Agency Reviews Marijuana Ban For Athletes Following Pushback On Richardson Suspension<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will conduct a scientific review of marijuana next year to determine whether it should continue an international ban on cannabis use by athletes. WADA\u2019s marijuana policy became a major focus this summer following\u00a0the suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson from participating in the Olympics overContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":49929,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[99,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928"}],"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=49928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49930,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928\/revisions\/49930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: World Anti-Doping Agency Reviews Marijuana Ban For Athletes Following Pushback On Richardson Suspension<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"