A National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) committee formally recommended that cannabis no longer be a banned substance for college athletes. Members of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports met and decided to advise all three of the association’s governing bodies to stop testing and punishing players for cannabinoids. The committee first expressed an interest in tackling the subject back in June. They spent a couple of months gathering information before deciding. The committee’s reasoning included the ineffectiveness of banning, testing, and penalizing. They expressed a belief that cannabis is not a performance-enhancing drug. Their rationalization also included a desire to move toward a “harm-reduction strategy.” The panel said, “This recommendation is based on extensive study informed by industry and subject matter experts (including doctors, substance misuse experts and membership practitioners). The recommendation aims to recenter student-athlete health while recognizing membership opinions and the shifting cultural and legal landscapes surrounding cannabinoids.” James Houle, committee chair and lead sport psychologist at Ohio State, said in a 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.”

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