NBA to stop testing players for cannabis for 7 years

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has reportedly removed cannabis from its list of banned substances and will no longer drug-test players as part of a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement.

This decision, first reported on Saturday by American journalist Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, continues league's decision to temporarily suspend cannabis testing over the past three seasons.

Sources: NBA players will no longer be prohibited for marijuana under the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. It's been removed from the anti-drug testing program, a process that began during 2019-20 season.

- Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023

NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated in late 2020 that this policy could become permanent after the league suspended the cannabis testing when players played in a quarantined «bubble» in Orlando at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

«We decided that, given everything that was going on in society, all the pressures and stress that players were under, we didn't need to play Big Brother right now,» he said at the time. «I think society's view on cannabis has changed to some extent.»

Rather than impose widespread testing, the commissioner stated that the league would address players who show signs of problematic dependence, and not to those who «consume cannabis occasionally».

According to Charania, «the NBA will no longer be banned from cannabis as part of the new seven-year collective bargaining agreement. He was removed from the drug-testing program, a process that began during the 2019-20″ season, he reported.

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced earlier Saturday that they «have reached agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement, pending ratification by players and team governors,» but that details will not be released until a term sheet is finalized.

Among the new features, basketball players should be allowed to advertise sports betting and cannabis businesses.