Becoming an elite athlete takes years of dedication — long days, longer nights, pain, and sacrifice. As an Olympic caliber sprinter, Sha’Carri Richardson committed herself to the process, navigating a labyrinth of rules and regulations for the chance to compete at the highest level of her sport. On July 2, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dashed her dreams of participating in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games with a suspension for violating its ban on marijuana, an outdated rule with no basis…

According to The Denver Post, late Friday, the NFLPA unanimously approved the terms of a new drug policy that includes the implementation of testing for Human Growth Hormone — a performance enhancing drug — as well as an increase in the threshold for testing positive for marijuana. The agreement with the NFL and NFLPA opens up the possibility for players suspended on drug policy violations to return to the field. Cleveland.com reported that Josh Gordon, Cleveland Browns receiver, will have his suspension…

In May, the organization that regulates the Olympics – the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) – made headlines when it ruled to increase the threshold of permissible marijuana in an athlete’s system from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 ng/ml. The WADA based their decision on a few key factors, including changes in state marijuana laws, increasing public support for legalization, and the willingness of outed Olympians who were stripped of their medals or disqualified from competition (such as Michael…

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) raised the threshold for a positive test for marijuana from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 nanograms per milliliter, significantly reducing the likelihood of detection for athletes who use the drug. “We wanted to focus on the athletes that abuse the substance in competition,” said Julie Masse, WADA’s director of communications. “This should exclude cases where marijuana is not used in competition.” Although marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing…

Nicholas Delpopolo, a Yugoslav-born American judo competitor in the London Olympics, has been disqualified on account of a positive drug test. This is the fifth positive drug test reported by the IOC for this year’s testing program but the first to turn up positive during the competition itself. The 23-year-old tested positive for marijuana metabolites, substances that would appear in the blood for several weeks after consuming marijuana. By way of explanation, he stated that he had recently consumed…