Ad Disclosure
AP Report: Athlete penalties for marijuana are being downgraded all over country
Published:
According to an investigation by the Associated Press, more than one-third of the Power 5 conference schools are falling short of punishing athletes as severely as they were 10 years ago for testing positive for marijuana and other “recreational drugs.”
Last year, in regards to athletes who failed screenings for marijuana and other similar substances at championship events, the NCAA eased up on their penalties by virtually cutting them in half.
The NCAA’s chief medical officer is pushing it to withdraw from recreational drug testing altogether.
The rationale stems from the fact that the perception of marijuana use has changed drastically over this time period. The report from The AP suggests that marijuana use among adults in the United States has doubled in that span, and of course, recreational use is now legal in four states.
The AP went even further to probe the policies for 57 of the 65 schools that are members of the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences as well as Notre Dame.
Of those 57 schools that were given a closer look, 23 of them during that time frame — which goes back to 2005 — have either shaved their penalties or permitted multiple positive tests from an athlete before issuing a suspension or a dismissal.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
