U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Blasts ‘Unfair’ Marijuana Ban For Olympic Athletes

The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is blasting the “unfair” ban on marijuana for athletes competing in international sport events, including the Olympics that are currently underway in Paris.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart said it’s “disappointing” that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has maintained the cannabis prohibition based on what he considers a misguided justification.

“I think we should all just be open and upfront about marijuana’s lack of performance-enhancing benefits,” Tygard told Yahoo Sports. “We’re not in the recreational drug policing business. We’re here to prevent fraud in sport and cheaters in sport.”

WADA did carry out a review into its marijuana policy at the request of USADA and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) following the controversial suspension of U.S. runner Sha’Carri Richardson, who was barred from participating in the Olympics in 2021 after she tested positive for THC. Richardson said she used cannabis to cope with the recent passing of her mother.

USADA said at the time that the international rules on marijuana “must change.” The White House and President Joe Biden himself also signaled that it was time for new policies and congressional lawmakers amplified that message.

But following the review, WADA determined that cannabis would continue to be designated as a prohibited substance, arguing that marijuana use by athletes violates the “spirit of sport,” making them unfit role models whose potential impairment could put others at risk.

Several members of WADA’s Prohibited List Expert Advisory Group also penned an editorial in the journal Addiction last year defending their decision.

In the new Yahoo interview, Tygart criticized what he described as WADA’s “very closed-door process” to reach that determination, adding that U.S. officials only learned about it “after the fact.”

“At the end of the day, it’s unfair to punish behavior that’s not a violation of the rules, and that’s currently what occurs in some cases,” he said.

As more states have moved to legalize cannabis, sports organizations at multiple levels have worked to enact reform.

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