Paris Olympics: Even America’s top anti-doping official wonders … why does marijuana remain a banned substance?

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PARIS — When American sprinting sensation Sha’Carri Richardson was stripped of the chance to vie for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics because of a positive marijuana test, the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency was among the many who sympathized with her plight.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart argued that athletes shouldn’t face punishment for testing positive for marijuana unless it can be proven that they created a health and safety risk or tried to gain a significant competitive advantage.

Three years later, with the Paris Olympics set to get underway, Tygart has little to show for his effort to push for change. “All natural and synthetic cannabinoids,” including marijuana, remain prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the organization founded by the International Olympic Committee to oversee drug testing across global sport.

“It’s disappointing,” Tygart told Yahoo Sports. “I think we should all just be open and upfront about marijuana’s lack of performance-enhancing benefits. We’re not in the recreational drug policing business. We’re here to prevent fraud in sport and cheaters in sport.”

The fairness of WADA’s marijuana rule inspired days of spirited debate three years ago in the wake of Richardson’s suspension. Notable athletes, entertainers and politicians called for change even before Richardson went on the “TODAY” show and explained she used marijuana a few days before the start of the U.S. Olympic Trials as a way to cope with the loss of her birth mother.

In September 2021, WADA initiated a scientific review of cannabis at the request of USADA, the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy and a handful of other global stakeholders. A hand-picked group of pharmacologists, toxicologists and other experts took a fresh look at whether cannabis met at least two of WADA’s three criteria for inclusion on its list of prohibited substances.

The panel of scientists had mixed opinions regarding the first criteria: Whether cannabis could be performance-enhancing. They found no rigorously conducted studies indicating that cannabis benefits performance, stamina or recovery, but they dig up anecdotal reports from athletes saying that it reduces their pain or anxiety.

There was consensus among the experts on WADA’s second and third criteria — that cannabis use during competition poses a potential health risk to athletes and violates the “spirit of sport.” In an August 2023 paper describing their work, WADA’s experts specifically noted that, while the U.S. has relaxed restrictions on marijuana, “its use violates the law in most countries around the world.”

When asked for his assessment of WADA’s review of cannabis, Tygart took issue not only with the outcome but with the lack of transparency. He described the review as “a very closed-door process” and said that U.S. officials didn’t find out about it until “after the fact.”

Richardson offered a glimpse of her frustration with WADA after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance in late 2021 yet was allowed to compete at the Beijing Olympics the following February. In a since-deleted tweet, Richardson wrote, “Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run.”

“The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady,” she later added.

These days, Richardson’s sole comment on the matter is a five-word mantra that she has repeated over and over for the past year: “I’m not back, I’m better.” She has since proven that on the track, winning a gold medal at last year’s World Championships in the women’s 100-meters and then following that by qualifying for the Paris Olympics with the fastest time in the world so far this year.

The sympathetic response to Richardson reflects the fact that marijuana doesn’t carry the same stigma that it once did throughout America. In recent years, as state after state passed laws decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana in some form, major American sports leagues have followed suit.

The NFL still fines players for weed but no longer suspends them. The NBA has removed marijuana from its list of banned substances, as has Major League Baseball. Earlier this summer, the NCAA announced it will no longer test Division I athletes for cannabis ahead of its championships.

WADA has also relaxed its rules, though its marijuana policy is far more stringent than major American sports leagues. In 2013, the international anti-doping organization increased the threshold for a positive test tenfold, decreasing but not eliminating the chances of an occasional marijuana user getting detected and facing punishment.

Under WADA rules, athletes are subject to suspension if they’re tested during a competition and the THC concentration in their urine exceeds the allowable threshold. If the athlete can establish that the cannabis use occurred out-of-competition and was unrelated to sport performance, the standard suspension is three months. That may be reduced to as little as one month if the athlete completes a substance abuse treatment program.

The time it takes for marijuana to be eliminated from the body, USADA warns, depends on the dosage and strength used, how often the athlete uses it and his or her weight and metabolism. That means that, even though cannabis use is only prohibited during competition, athletes can still face punishment for using the substance beforehand.

“At the end of the day, it’s unfair to punish behavior that’s not a violation of the rules,” Tygart said, “and that’s currently what occurs in some cases.”