The NCAA panel is taking strides that most athletes are going to love. Marijuana has been on the banned drugs list for a long time. Some players have also been penalized for usage. Charlie Baker and his new administration may change all of that.
The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports recommended stopping cannabis testing for their NCAA athletes. They have been conducting drug testing for the championship events since 1986. The recent trend of states decriminalizing weed will change that, per ESPN.
The NCAA panel needs all three NCAA Divisions to approve the proposal to proceed. Divisions III and II have called for further studies to push through. This is not a new issue for the NCAA as they have made previous strides in removing cannabis from their ban list.
They realized that marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug back in December. Since then, the NCAA panel lowered the THC threshold to be declared as positive in their drug tests. It was raised from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter. These standards are in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency's recommendations.
Policies surrounding penalties were also lighter as compared to what they were. NCAA schools now just detect problematic drug use in their tests for the welfare of their athletes. They will also put up new guidelines for them to deal with different types of usage.
The NCAA under Charlie Baker is taking strides that athletes are going to love. They just have to make sure not to abuse these new guidelines.
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