World Anti-Doping Agency Set Plans to Keep Cannabis Banned, Pointing to US’ Own Lack of Movement9/16/2022
![]() After US Olympic runner, Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension for a positive cannabis test last year, there has been a vocal push to remove cannabis from the list of banned substances by the World Anti Doping Agency, or WADA. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has said that the international rules “must change.” However, a spokesperson for World Anti Doping Agency spoke to The Wall Street Journal in a story published on Monday and very astutely pointed out that, “to date neither the United States authorities nor the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has requested the removal of cannabis from the Prohibited List.” They are referring to the fact that they say the US agencies have never completed a formalized request on the matter. The World Anti Doping Agency has made it very clear that the U.S. had played a key role in placing marijuana on the list of prohibited substances for international athletes—and it still has a seat at the table if it truly wants a policy change. USADA CEO Travis Tygart told the Wall Street Journal that, for decades, they have, “advocated for WADA to change its approach to marijuana so a positive test is not a violation unless it was intentionally used to enhance performance or endangers the health or safety of competitors.” That last ‘unless’ might explain why the World Anti Doping Agency does not believe the U.S. is fully supporting cannabis. Richard Pound, who served as the first president of World Anti Doping Agency, spoke to Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Monday and said, “there are thousands and thousands of Americans in jail as we speak for a mere possession of marijuana, so I was kind of surprised that, at the highest levels in the country, [officials were suggesting to] remove the ban in its entirety” on the global athletic stage. This glaring contrast was also alluded to by Russian authorities when Americans demanded the Brittney Griner be released from a Russian jail over cannabis possession. Russians said that America calling Griner “wrongfully detained” is hypocritical, as America still classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1, illegal drug. Comments are closed.
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