The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officially announced cannabis will stay on the list of banned substances for international athletes following a scientific review.
After U.S. track and field athlete Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from several Olympic events after testing positive for cannabis, many cannabis advocates urged reform for drug tests for athletes. The organization was asked to review the status of THC, with it reporting to “violate the spirit of the sport” and remaining on the banned substance list for 2023. Following Richardson’s suspension, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) sent a letter to Congress calling for action on the rules for cannabis use by international athletes. President Joe Biden also suggested the rules for testing athletes for cannabis could also change soon.
“The question of how THC should be dealt with in a sporting context is not straightforward,” WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said in a press release. “WADA is aware of the diversity of opinions and perceptions related to this substance around the world, and even within certain countries. WADA is also mindful that the few requests for THC’s removal from the Prohibited List are not supported by the experts’ thorough review. We are also conscious that the laws of many countries—as well as broad international regulatory laws and policies—support maintaining cannabis on the List at this time.”
A substance qualifies for the banned list if it meets two of three criteria used by WADA in its evaluation: it violates the spirit of the sport, it has the potential to enhance sport performance or it represents a health risk to the athlete. The organization and its Ethics Expert Advisory Group concluded cannabis violates the spirit of the sport across a range of areas, with WADA continuing to research the potential performance-enhancing effects and the potential health risks cannabis can have on athletes.
The mainstream rise of cannabis, especially in states with legal recreational cannabis, has led to a shift in views from other sports organizations as well. The NBA has previously done away with its cannabis testing policy, no longer conducting random cannabis drug tests during the season. The league first announced the change when returning to play after the season was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic, only testing for performance-enhancing substances for players playing in the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World. The league then kept cannabis off of the list for the ’21-’22 season in agreement with the National Basketball Players Association.
“We have agreed with the NBPA to extend the suspension of random testing for marijuana for the 2021-22 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
THC is only banned “in-competition” by WADA and the organization has increasingly softened its stance on cannabis, only punishing athletes when their THC metabolites exceed 150 nanograms per milliliter in a urine test—a threshold that was increased from just from 15 ng/mL in 2013. It has also reduced the penalty from a four-year ban to as little as one month. WADA noted the high threshold limit to register a positive test would be consistent with a frequent user or a significantly impaired athlete.
WADA also added tramadol to the 2023 list of banned substances, an opioid deemed a controlled substance due to its high risk of abuse. Tramadol has been on the WADA Monitoring Program with the organization funding research on the potential performance-enhancing effects of the opioid. The ban is delayed until January 1, 2024 to allow for proper communication and education of athletes and their coaches and medical personnel.
