NCAA Moves to Drop Cannabis from Banned Substances List
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) has announced its support for eliminating cannabis from the Association’s list of banned substances and testing protocols.
According to the official announcement, Divisions II and III brought the matter to the committee’s attention, urging a reevaluation of the NCAA’s cannabis policy and a focus on testing for performance-enhancing substances only.
The committee, which convened in Indianapolis last week, will gather feedback from the membership throughout the summer and anticipates final action on the issue in the fall.
For the cannabis class to be removed from the NCAA’s prohibited drugs roster, each of the three NCAA divisional governance bodies must introduce and adopt relevant legislation. Additionally, the committee intends to approach the NCAA Board of Governors to request to stop cannabis testing at NCAA championship events while the legislative process is underway.
The decision to consider this change was greatly influenced by the December 2022 Summit on Cannabinoids in College Athletics. The consensus opinion from the summit was that cannabis does not enhance athletic performance and that a harm reduction approach, similar to that applied to alcohol, is best suited for addressing cannabis-related concerns at the school level.
CSMAS aims to prioritize testing for substances that provide an unfair advantage, refocus on institutional testing that supports campus efforts to identify problematic cannabis use, and educate student-athletes on the health risks associated with contemporary cannabis usage. The committee also plans to outline relevant harm-reduction strategies for student-athletes who legally consume cannabis.
In addition to policy and testing changes, CSMAS expressed its backing for the development of a comprehensive communication and education campaign that will provide guidance to NCAA member schools regarding cannabis.
This marks the second significant modification to the NCAA’s marijuana policy within a relatively short period, following the decision last year to increase the threshold for a positive THC test and revise the corresponding penalties for athletes.
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