The NCAA appears to be moving closer toward eliminating a ban on cannabinoids in collegiate athletics, which would pave the way for the legal use of marijuana by athletes.
On Friday, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) submitted a recommendation to the the three divisional governing bodies of the NCAA that cannabinoids should be removed from the league's list of banned drugs.
The decision is largely based on findings that the policy to ban, test and penalize is ineffective, that the NCAA test for only performance-enhancing drugs and that the governing body should move toward "a harm-reduction strategy that prioritizes education and support at the school level over penalties."
"When making a decision on an important topic like this, we agree that the membership should have an opportunity to vote on the final outcome," James Houle, committee chair and lead sport psychologist at Ohio State, said in the press release. "We are recommending a big shift in the paradigm when it comes to cannabinoids. We want to modernize the strategy with the most up-to-date research to give schools the best opportunity to support the health of student-athletes."
Here's what you need to know about the recommendation submitted on Friday:
NCAA recommendation on cannabinoids
The decision to recommend removing cannabinoids from the list of banned substance comes after the committee studied the subject extensively, hearing from doctors, substance-misuse experts and membership practitioners.
In December 2022, the NCAA hosted a summit on Cannabis in Collegiate Athletics that featured attendance from more than 60 people to try and understand how cannabinoids affect college athletics. Over the two days, the summit discussed ways the NCAA should handle the subject over the future.
"This summit provided an incredible opportunity to better understand current research and data pertaining to marijuana use at the college level," Brian Hainline, NCAA chief medical officer, said, per a release. "The cannabis industry is rapidly evolving, and it's important for the NCAA to understand the current landscape as educational, policy and research strategies are developed to best support the physical and mental health of student-athletes."
Per the NCAA's release on Friday, the consensus opinion from the summit was that cannabis should not be considered to be a performance-enhancing drug, and that the schools should instead pursue a "harm-reduction approach" to the use of cannabis. The release noted the recommendation was to "recenter student-athlete health while recognizing membership opinions and the shifting cultural and legal landscapes surrounding cannabinoids."
While the recommendation is one thing, it does not mean that a policy change is coming soon. The governing bodies for each of the three divisions will have to introduce, discuss and adopt legislation before any changes can take effect.
The most recent change came in February 2022, when the CSMAS increased the THC threshold needed to trigger a positive test and recommended a new penalty structure be put in place for any student-athletes that test positive. The new threshold, which was aligned with the World Anti-Doping Agency, was raised from 35 nanograms per milliliter to 150.
Cannabis currently remains illegal in only 10 states, according to The Cannigma. It is legal for both medicinal and recreational use in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
Many North American professional sports leagues have moved in recent years away from punishing athletes for cannabis use.