The World Anti-Doping Agency appears almost certain to keep cannabis on its list of banned substances, amid a continuing debate over the drug’s effect on athletic performance and the proper role of testing in Olympic and other top international athletic competitions.
A person with knowledge of the situation this week confirmed a
Wall Street Journal report that cannabis remains on the list of banned substances for 2023 that will be approved at WADA’s executive committee meeting Sept. 23. Many athletes and sports officials have asked the agency to reconsider its cannabis rules, as attitudes about the drug have shifted in some countries.
Last year, American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson
received a one-month suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for marijuana at the U.S. Olympic trials, where she won the 100-meter race. The suspension cost Richardson, who admitted to using the drug days before her race, a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
In a statement, WADA said an advisory board made up of experts from a number of fields reviewed cannabis’s place on the list at the request of anti-doping agencies from “a small number” of countries. The agency also pointed out that marijuana policies have been made less stringent in recent years, with higher thresholds for positive tests and shorter suspensions for violations — as short as a month if an athlete can prove the use was out of competition and not intended to enhance performance.
[Read More @ The Washington Post]
