The NBA will no longer randomly test its players for cannabis

The players in the world's best basketball league have won their case. From this 2021-2022 season, they will no longer have to submit to cannabis testing, as revealed by ESPN. This provision had been in force since the summer of 2020 and the Orlando «bubble», when the NBA resumed after a hiatus due to the health crisis. It will now be enshrined in the regulations.

«We have reached an agreement with the NBA players» union, to endorse the discontinuation of random cannabis testing for the 2021-2022 season. We will focus our testing program on performance-enhancing products, and hard drugs.", says NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

Cannabis will therefore have a special status in the league: it is officially banned by the rules, but will no longer be tested. The 450 players will only be tested for growth hormones, but also for drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates.

Insistent requests from players

This decision is the result of an insistent request from the players, through their powerful union, the NBPA. At the start of the covid-19 crisis, they had asked to curb cannabis testing for health reasons ; At the time, all contact had to be avoided. Nowadays, there's no health reason to do so.

The NBA has never been very fussy, and has tested cannabis to the limit. But off the field, a number of players have made headlines for cannabis-related legal problems. Such was the case of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Alex Caruso, arrested in Texas at the beginning of the summer. It's also the case for former interior designer Michael Beasley, who has had to undergo multiple police checks.

So the NBA stops trying to empty the ocean with a spoon. The commissioner, head of the league, admitted it himself, in 2019: «Some players smoke cannabis just like they might drink a glass of alcohol, it's a way to relax, I don't have a problem with it.», says Adam Silver on Yahoo! Sports podcast.

The Commissioner is also following the lead of other American sports leagues. Major League Baseball (MLB) has stopped testing for cannabis two years ago. The National Football League (NFL) will continue to test for the presence of THC. But it will not will no longer suspend its players if they test positive