An NCAA panel on Friday called for marijuana to be removed from the organization’s list of prohibited drugs and suggested that testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances.
The Committee for Competitive Guarantees and Medical Aspects of Sports recommended stopping cannabis tests in such events until a final decision is made, probably this fall.
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Marijuana plants grow in a secure grow facility in Washington County, New York on May 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
The legislation would still have to be introduced and approved by all three NCAA divisions to take effect. The administrators of Divisions II and III had asked the committee to look into the matter.
The panel’s latest move comes as the US sees more and more states allowing the use of medical or recreational marijuana. The committee raised the THC threshold needed for a positive test and recommended renewed sanctions for athletes earlier this year. The THC threshold was raised from 35 to 150 nanograms per millimeter, in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Signage at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, March 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
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Last December, the committee noted that marijuana and its derivatives are not considered performance-enhancing substances.
The panel suggested emphasizing policies that focus on the potential threats of marijuana use and the need to reduce the harm and use of cannabis products rather than focus on penalties.
NCAA signage on the field before the game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Ole Miss Rebels at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 26, 2022, in Omaha, Nebraska. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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For schools that do test, the panel said officials should use those results to find «problematic» cannabis use.
Associated Press contributed to this report.