The NCAA Division I Council voted Tuesday to take away cannabinoids from the banned drug class for NCAA championships and postseason soccer, efficient instantly.
It’s a serious change to a rule that has had high-profile penalties over the previous decade. Whereas colleges have their very own drug testing insurance policies and requirements for a lot of the season, the NCAA controls drug testing within the postseason and traditionally has had a lot stiffer penalties than the faculties.
“The NCAA drug testing program is meant to deal with integrity of competitors, and hashish merchandise don’t present a aggressive benefit,” Council chair and Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman stated. “The council’s focus is on insurance policies centered on student-athlete well being and well-being moderately than punishment for hashish use.”
In 2014, Michigan basketball star ahead Mitch McGary realized he can be suspended for the whole 2014-15 season as a result of a constructive marijuana take a look at throughout the 2014 NCAA Event. Because of this, McGary declared for the NBA Draft and was chosen at No. 21 by the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
The NCAA later that 12 months lessened the penalty for a constructive marijuana take a look at to half of a season.
In 2019, the NCAA raised the THC threshold for the rule, however three Oklahoma soccer gamers had been suspended for six video games as a result of constructive marijuana exams earlier than the Peach Bowl CFP semifinal sport. These suspensions carried over into the 2020 season.
This NCAA change comes as leisure marijuana continues to be legalized throughout the nation and is authorized in 24 states. The NBA eliminated marijuana from the league’s drug-testing program in 2023 as a part of a brand new collective bargaining settlement. Colleges will proceed to have particular person drug exams and insurance policies.
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(Picture: Isaiah Vazquez / NCAA Images through Getty Photographs)
