{"id":76561,"date":"2024-06-26T06:40:53","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/26\/ncaa-votes-to-remove-marijuana-from-banned-substances-list-for-college-athletes\/"},"modified":"2024-06-26T06:46:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:46:25","slug":"ncaa-votes-to-remove-marijuana-from-banned-substances-list-for-college-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/26\/ncaa-votes-to-remove-marijuana-from-banned-substances-list-for-college-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Votes To Remove Marijuana From Banned Substances List For College Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has voted to remove marijuana from its banned substances list for Division I players<\/a>, effective immediately.<\/p>\n

About five months after NCAA\u2019s Division I Council proposed the rule change, the body adopted the policy on Tuesday, emphasizing that cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug and that it should be treated the same way as alcohol.<\/p>\n

The reform builds on a 2022 change that increased the allowable THC threshold for college athletes<\/a>, aligning NCAA\u2019s rules with those of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).<\/p>\n

The newly adopted rule<\/a>, which amends<\/a> NDAA\u2019s drug testing policies for student sports championships and postseason participation in football, will also be retroactively applied, discontinuing any penalties players are currently facing for a cannabis-related violation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NCAA drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage,\u201d Josh Whitman, chair of the council, said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cThe council\u2019s focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

\u2014 NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) June 25, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cCannabinoids will be addressed like other non-performance enhancing drugs like alcohol,\u201d NCAA said in a social media post. \u201cNCAA members will focus on harm-reduction strategies problematic cannabis use, centering health of student-athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reform follows\u00a0a\u00a0preliminary recommendation last June\u00a0from NCAA\u2019s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) that each of the organization\u2019s three governing bodies remove marijuana from the banned substances list<\/a>. Divisions II and III are yet to vote on the proposal.<\/p>\n

Historically, college athletes have been subject to testing during postseason play. Positive tests could mean an entire season of lost eligibility. Officials have said the changes are intended to focus more on problematic use than penalizing players for a single mistake.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0formally recommending the policy shift last September<\/a>, the NCAA committee said that ending the cannabis ban \u201cacknowledges the ineffectiveness of existing policy (banning, testing and penalizing),\u201d affirms the body\u2019s belief that cannabis is not a \u201cperformance-enhancing drug\u201d promotes the \u201cimportance of moving toward a harm-reduction strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of discussion and adoption of possible legislation is a decision that will be made by each of three NCAA divisional governance structures,\u201d the panel\u00a0said. \u201cThis recommendation is based on extensive study informed by industry and subject matter experts (including doctors, substance misuse experts and membership practitioners).\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple sports organizations have moved to amend their marijuana testing policies for athletes amid the state legalization movement.<\/p>\n

For example, the NFL and its players union agreed to\u00a0end the practice of suspending players over marijuana<\/a> or other drugs as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2020.<\/p>\n

NFL has committed significant funding to research into whether CBD can serve as an effective opioid alternative<\/a>, and it\u2019s also explored the\u00a0therapeutic potential of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid for pain management and neuroprotection<\/a>\u00a0from concussions.<\/p>\n

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced in December that it is formally\u00a0removing marijuana from its newly modified banned substances list<\/a>\u00a0for athletes, also building on an earlier reform.<\/p>\n

However, ahead of a UFC event in February, a California athletics commission said they could still\u00a0face penalties under state rules for testing positive for THC over a certain limit<\/a>, as the state body\u2019s policy is based around WADA guidance.<\/p>\n

Nevada sports regulators voted last year to\u00a0send a proposed regulatory amendment to the governor<\/a>\u00a0that would protect athletes from\u00a0being penalized over using or possessing marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in compliance with state law.<\/p>\n

While advocates have welcomed these changes, there\u2019s been criticism of WADA over its ongoing cannabis ban. Members of a panel within the agency said in an opinion piece last August\u00a0that marijuana use by athletes violates the \u201cspirit of sport,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0making them unfit role models whose potential impairment could put others at risk.<\/p>\n

Advocates strongly urged WADA to enact a reform after\u00a0U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson was suspended<\/a>\u00a0from participating in Olympics events due to a positive THC test in 2021.<\/p>\n

Following that suspension, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said that\u00a0the international rules on marijuana \u201cmust change,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the White House and\u00a0President Joe Biden himself signaled<\/a>\u00a0that it was time for new policies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0congressional lawmakers amplified that message<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an NFL player recently sued the league and his former team the Denver Broncos for alleged employment discrimination after he was fined more than half a million dollars for testing positive for THC<\/a> that he says was caused by his prescribed use of a synthetic cannabinoid.<\/p>\n

\n

Key House Committee Blocks All Marijuana Amendments To Three Spending Bills From Getting Floor Votes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post NCAA Votes To Remove Marijuana From Banned Substances List For College Athletes<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: NCAA Votes To Remove Marijuana From Banned Substances List For College Athletes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has voted to remove marijuana from its banned substances list for Division I players, effective immediately. About five months after NCAA\u2019s Division I Council proposed the rule change, the body adopted the policy on Tuesday, emphasizing that cannabis is not a performance enhancing drugContinue 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":[99,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76561"}],"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=76561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76562,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76561\/revisions\/76562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}