The World Anti-Doping Agency WADA will investigate whether cannabis should still be on the list of banned products.
The organization makes that decision after American top sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson had to miss the Olympics this summer due to a positive control of the product.
According to reports, next year the cannabis will be subject to scientific research. The WADA executive committee stressed in a statement that cannabis will remain banned in 2022 anyway.
Richardson should have become one of the stars of the sprint in Tokyo, but she was banned for 30 days after testing positive during the American trials at the end of June. As a result, she had to make a cross about her Olympic ambitions.
Her case opened up debate over the presence of marijuana on the list of banned products. However, Richardson said she is hopeful that her punishment will end up leading to a change in the policy on marijuana for athletes. And she even added that she would feel blessed if this happened as a result of her suspension.
Sebastian Coe, president of the International Athletics Federation, among others, launched a call to review the status of cannabis.
“I think it’s an opportune time to review the status. Nothing is set in stone. Every now and then you adjust and re-evaluate.” Coe said during the game.
Marijuana has long been banned by WADA alongside traditional performance-enhancing steroids like stanozolol and nandrolone, even though it is now legal in 18 states.
On the other hand, Roger Pielke Jr., a professor at the University of Colorado who studies sports governance, described efforts to regulate marijuana as an overstep.
“Whatever one thinks about recreational drugs, what’s WADA’s business in regulating them, given that we have jurisdictions around the world that have legal frameworks to do exactly that?” Pielke said.
“A lot of attention that could be paid to regulating actual doping drugs gets spent on regulating these morality drugs.” he added.
