Cannabis should remain on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is likely to keep cannabis on its list of banned substances for 2023.

An advisory group has reviewed its inclusion on the list over the past year, after the disqualification of American sprint champion Sha'Carri Richardson at the Tokyo Olympics opened the debate on the need to ban this substance for athletes.

A draft list, to be finalized with WADA's Executive Committee at its September 23 meeting, still includes cannabis, according to the WSJ. Visit cannabinoids are classified among substances of abuse, The same applies to cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. A positive out-of-competition test carries a three-month suspension, which can be reduced to one month if the athlete follows a treatment program. Previous penalty, which was reduced by the AMA last year, The penalty was a two- to four-year suspension from competition.

Richardson was the star of the U.S. Olympic trials last summer when she won the 100-meter final in 10.86, revealing after the race that she had recently lost her mother.

After the race, she tested positive for THC. She later stated that she had used cannabis to cope with the news of her mother's death. The one-month suspension meant that she would not be able to take part in the Tokyo Olympics. Her suspension attracted the attention of many professional athletes, celebrities and politicians. U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez wrote a letter to the heads of WADA and USADA asking them to reconsider sanctions for the recreational use of cannabis.

Cannabis is also legal in Oregon, where the U.S. Olympic trials were held.

The Dutch Anti-Doping Committee has called for cannabis to be removed from the list of banned substances. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has lobbied for cannabis to be made a of a scientific review, but according to AMA, the agency has not requested its outright withdrawal.

«For nearly a decade, USADA has advocated that WADA change its approach to cannabis so that a positive test does not constitute a violation unless it was intentionally used to enhance performance or endanger the health or safety of competitors,» Travis Tygart, director general of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), told the WSJ.