The National Basketball Association (NBA) is reportedly removing marijuana from its list of banned substances and will no longer drug test players for it as part of a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n
The move, first reported on Saturday by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, formally codifies what has been the league\u2019s decision to temporarily suspend cannabis testing<\/a> for the past three seasons.<\/p>\n Sources: NBA players will no longer be prohibited for marijuana under the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. It’s been removed from the anti-drug testing program, a process that began during 2019-20 season.<\/p>\n \u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n NBA Commissioner Adam Silver signaled in late 2020 that the policy could eventually become permanent<\/a> after the league initially suspended cannabis testing<\/a> when players competed in a quarantined \u201cbubble\u201d in Orlando at the start of the coronavirus pandemic earlier that year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided that, given all the things that were happening in society, given all the pressures and stress that players were under, that we didn\u2019t need to act as Big Brother right now,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI think society\u2019s views around marijuana has changed to a certain extent.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than mandate blanket tests, the commissioner said the league would be reaching out to players who show signs of problematic dependency, not those who are \u201cusing marijuana casually.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, according to Charania, \u201cNBA players will no longer be prohibited for marijuana under the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been removed from the anti-drug testing program, a process that began during 2019-20 season,\u201d he reported.<\/p>\n NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced earlier on Saturday that they \u201creached a tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, pending ratification by players and team governors,\u201d but that details won\u2019t be released until a term sheet is finalized.<\/p>\n The following has just been released: pic.twitter.com\/Tf8NDvi0TE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 1, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Michele Roberts, a onetime head of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) who also joined the board of the major cannabis company Cresco Labs<\/a> in 2020, previously predicted that a formal change to codify the policy could come soon.<\/p>\n In 2021, 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 This latest action from NBA comes as the national discussion about cannabis testing policies for athletes continues to unfold\u2014an issue that made international headlines following the suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson<\/a> from participating in the Olympics over a positive THC test.<\/p>\n The runner said that she\u2019d feel \u201cblessed and proud\u201d if the attention her case raised would\u00a0affect a policy change for other athletes<\/a>. Even the White House and President Joe Biden himself weighed in on the case, suggesting that there\u2019s a question about\u00a0whether the marijuana ban should \u201cremain the rules.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided last year to keep marijuana on the list of banned substances<\/a>\u00a0for international athletes following a scientific review and a determination that cannabis use \u201cviolates the spirit of sport.\u201d<\/p>\n MLB, one of the most progressive professional sports leagues when it comes to cannabis policy, recently signed a CBD company to serve as the league\u2019s first-ever cannabis sponsor<\/a>\u2014with plans to promote the business at the upcoming World Series.<\/p>\n The decision came about four months after it was reported that MLB started allowing baseball teams in the league to sell sponsorships to cannabis companies<\/a>\u00a0that market CBD products, as long as they meet certain criteria.<\/p>\n MLB has stood out among other professional sports leagues as more willing to respond to the changing marijuana policy landscape. For example, it clarified in a memo in 2020 that\u00a0players will not be punished for using cannabis<\/a>\u00a0while they aren\u2019t working, but they can\u2019t be personally sponsored by a marijuana company or hold investments in the industry.<\/p>\n The league also said at the time that it was teaming with NSF International to analyze and certify legal, contaminant-free CBD products in order to allow teams to store them on club premises.<\/p>\n The update built upon MLB\u2019s decision in 2019 to\u00a0remove cannabis from the league\u2019s list of banned substances<\/a>. Before that rule change, players who tested positive for THC were referred to mandatory treatment, and failure to comply carried a fine of up to $35,000. That penalty is now gone.<\/p>\n A number of athletic governance bodies have recently relaxed rules around cannabinoids as laws change and medical applications become more widely accepted.<\/p>\n UFC announced in 2021 that they would no longer be punishing fighters over positive marijuana tests.<\/p>\n Separately, students athletes that are part of the NCAA would no longer automatically lose their eligibility to play following a positive marijuana test\u00a0under rules that are were recommended<\/a> by a key committee last year.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the NFL\u2019s\u00a0drug testing policy already changed demonstrably<\/a>\u00a0in 2020 as part of a collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n NFL players no longer face the possibility of being suspended from games over positive tests for any drug\u2014not just marijuana\u2014under a collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they will face a fine. The threshold for what constitutes a positive THC test was also increased under the deal.<\/p>\n Marijuana icon Snoop Dogg, who was featured at the Super Bowl halftime show last year where an ad separately aired that indirectly supported legalization<\/a>, argued that\u00a0sports leagues need to stop testing players for marijuana<\/a>\u00a0and allow to them to use it as an alternative to prescription opioids.<\/p>\n Cannabis and sports was also a topic of discussion amid the detention of U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner<\/a> in Russia over THC vapes.<\/p>\n Kentucky Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Into Law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post The NBA Is Lifting Its Ban On Marijuana In New Deal With Players Union, According To Report<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is reportedly removing marijuana from its list of banned substances and will no longer drug test players for it as part of a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement. The move, first reported on Saturday by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, formally codifies whatContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":0,"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\/63323"}],"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\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63324,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63323\/revisions\/63324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: The NBA Is Lifting Its Ban On Marijuana In New Deal With Players Union, According To Report<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"