The Associated Press reported today that some of the nation's biggest colleges have been reducing their penalties for student athletes who test positive for marijuana.

At least one-third of the Power Five conference schools are not punishing athletes as harshly as they were 10 years ago for testing positive for marijuana and other so-called recreational drugs, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

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The AP analyzed policies for 57 of the 65 schools in the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, plus Notre Dame.

Of the 57 schools, 23 since 2005 have either reduced penalties or allowed an athlete to test positive more times before being suspended or dismissed. Ten schools have separate, less stringent policies addressing only marijuana infractions.

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The Legislative Council of the NCAA approved a measure that would reduce the penalty for a positive marijuana drug test. Currently, college athletes face a full year suspension if caught using marijuana, but, after August 1^st of this year, the suspension will be reduced to half of a year.

NCAA reasoned that marijuana is not “performance-enhancing in nature, and this change will encourage schools to provide student-athletes the necessary rehabilitation." The change in policy distances marijuana from being seen equally to steroid use and treats the issue “the same as academic fraud." This change clearly reflects the national shift on attitudes about marijuana towards decriminalization rather than strict punishment.

However, individual schools and conferences can still set whatever harsher penalties they like for their players. Since the NCAA only tests for marijuana during championships, it's fairly easy for an athlete to stop smoking marijuana a month before the NCAA Tournament to test negative.

“But if the NCAA would get out of the morality business when it comes to things like substances, and stay in the business of making sure competition is fair and not tainted by PEDs, I think it would be better for everyone,” Glenn Logan said in an article for SB Nation. “After all, we don't test regular scholarship students for marijuana, so why should student-athletes be singled out?”

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