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White House is pushing for a meeting with the World Anti-Doping Agency to discuss easing restrictions on cannabis use by athletes, after star sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from the US Olympic team because she tested positive for marijuana.
The White House is requesting the meeting through the US Bureau of National Drug Control Policy, which sits on the founding board of Wada, the international body responsible for the governance of anti-doping in world sport, including the Olympics.
The board is due to meet on November 25, but the ONDCP told the Financial Times that “if possible, the United States will hold an earlier discussion on [cannabis policy] within Wada ”.
The office said it intended to question Wada about policies restricting cannabis use, “including the timing of testing and the basis for considering cannabis as a performance enhancing drug.”
Wada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The request comes a week after it was revealed that Richardson tested positive for marijuana during the US Olympic trials in Oregon. The substance is legal for recreational use in the state, although it remains banned in some elite sports under rules set by Wada.
Richardson, a former favorite for a gold in the women’s 100 meters, was subsequently suspended from competition for a month, meaning she will miss the Tokyo Olympics, where she was expected to be a star.
His suspension prompted a backlash from politicians and the American public over what some see as policy inconsistent with modern American law. Nineteen states had fully legalized recreational marijuana use last month, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
“The rules are the rules”, mentionned US President Joe Biden last week when asked about Richardson’s suspension. “Whether it should stay that way is another question. “
A MoveOn.org petition calling for Richardson to be reinstated in the US Olympic team garnered more than 560,000 signatures on Friday.
Two members of the US House of Representatives, Jamie Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recently called on US and global anti-doping authorities to overturn Richardson’s suspension.
In a letter last week they argued that “the ban on marijuana while your organizations allow the recreational use of alcohol and other drugs reflects the drug laws and policies that have historically targeted black and brown communities.”
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In a letter responding to them on Friday, officials from the US Anti-Doping Agency wrote that the agency “agrees that the exclusion of Ms. Richardson from the Tokyo Olympics is a heartbreaking situation and that the World Anti-Doping Agency’s rules regarding marijuana use must change ”.
The United States is the largest contributor to Wada’s annual budget and is expected to provide more than $ 2.9 million in 2021, according to the agency’s website. The agency reviews its list of banned and restricted substances and methods annually, seeking input from all stakeholders in a review process starting this month, which is expected to end in the fall.
Richardson has said she accepts her suspension. “I know what I did. I know what I’m supposed to do and I’m allowed not to do it, and I made that decision anyway, ”she told the Today Show last week. “I’m not looking for an excuse. I am not looking for any empathy in my case.
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