Sha'Carri Richardson's Suspension Puts A Light On A Big Issue In Sports
Release sports from the shackle that is testing for weed.
Thursday evening it came down sports news that U.S sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson had tested positive for marijuana, sources told Reuters, and that she will be unlikely to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
The news sent social media in a frenzy, of course dividing people on the principles of the regulations. The trailblazer Richardson, who broke NCCA history with her time in the 100-meter dash, did break the rules here, but why are sports still testing for marijuana in 2021 when we have one-third of our country living in states where it is legal?
Now, both the NBA and the NFL have made strides in eliminating these tests from their previous archaic rules in their leagues. The NFL stopped testing players for marijuana until training camps open in August. After they will begin testing for the substance but the threshold has been raised for a positive test and players won’t be suspended anymore, rather fined. The NBA on the other hand has completely eliminated testing from their league for this season.
As you see both leagues continue towards a more progressive reality, it begs the question why haven’t more if not all sports leagues and competitions follow suit? And why did Richardson have to pay the ultimate price of missing a marquee event at the Olympics for something as simple as smoking weed?
Photo of of the plant marijuana
The demonization of weed has gone on for far too long in our society and in this case sports. Research shows that the drug actually provides significant benefits to recovery for an athlete. Reducing inflammation, alleviating pain, and improving symptoms caused by brain damage just to name a few. Studies also show that it helps with forms of mental health like depression which is roughly affecting one in five adults in the U.S. according to a study by the University Of New Mexico and Releaf App in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.
Sha’Carri has been public about her battles with mental health in the past and she had just announced in an emotional post-race interview after she won the qualifier for the Olympics that her biological mother had passed away:
Is it beyond the realm to think that she wanted to smoke some weed to relieve her from a depressed state as most young adults her age do?
It’s just a sad truth that sports leagues are more comfortable shooting dangerous opioids into an athlete’s body than using a natural relieving drug. Former NBA player Matt Barnes has been one of the many athletes who have supported the use of marijuana, sighting the benefits of its usage when dealing with not only body recovery but stress and being in the public’s eye as well. NFL player Josh Gordon is an example of a player that had missed multiple seasons due to failed drug test and how that has impacted his battles with mental health.
Former NBA player Matt Barnes smoking weed
It’s time sports do away with testing for marijuana period. The evidence is there to show that there are positives to the drug and if these sports leagues and competitions are serious about caring for their player’s mental health then they need to let them be able to use all avenues, which includes marijuana usage.
