Suspended Olympic Athlete Sha’Carri Richardson Called Latest ‘Victim’ of War On Drugs
Richardson remains suspended from the 2021 Olympics for her cannabis usage, because the substance remains illegal in much of the world. But one member of the International Olympic Committee concedes that marijuana is “not performance-enhancing.”
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As Sha’Carri Richardson remains suspended from the 2021 Olympics for her marijuana usage, she has become the latest victim of the global war on drugs, says Vox. A founder of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said that marijuana’s inclusion as a banned substance was rooted in the fact that it was, and still is, illegal in much of the world, says the Washington Post. But Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, said, “As thought has been given to these things over the years, they’re really not performance-enhancing.”
Richardson is a victim of an approach that no longer matches much of the public’s views on drugs, says Vox. The war on drugs pushed the WADA to prohibit recreational marijuana use among athletes, which it continues to enforce, even though many U.S. states, along with countries like Canada and Uruguay, have legalized it for recreational use. The NFL and MLB have also reflected this change, relaxing punishments for athletes who test positive for the drug.
