An NCAA committee recommended that each of the association’s three divisional governance bodies introduce and adopt legislation that would remove cannabinoids — the chemical substance derived from the cannabis plant — from the NCAA’s list of banned drug classes.
The NCAA posted a release Friday stating that the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS), which provides expertise to the association related to athlete health, made the recommendation. Committee members met this week in Indianapolis and also recommended developing a “robust educational strategy to accompany a potential change to cannabinoid legislation,” according to the release.
The release also noted that the recommendation was based on “extensive study informed by industry and subject matter experts,” including doctors and substance misuse experts, and informed by a December 2022 Summit on Cannabinoids in College Athletics and “the consensus opinion formed that cannabis is not a performance-enhancing drug and that a harm-reduction approach to cannabis is best implemented at the school level.”
“The recommendation aims to recenter student-athlete health while recognizing membership opinions and the shifting cultural and legal landscapes surrounding…
