By Marley Dickinson on June 20, 2023

An NCAA committee is pushing to remove cannabis from its list of banned substances, advocating that collegiate drug testing should instead focus on testing for performance-enhancing drugs rather than recreational/medical substances. The proposal was released by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) on Friday and represents a significant divergence for the NCAA, which has been testing for cannabis at championship events for nearly four decades.

The committee has suggested a suspension of cannabis testing at all championship events until a final decision is reached. For the rules to change, the new legislation would need to be introduced and approved by all three divisions of the NCAA: Division I, II and III. Division II and III administrators were the ones who requested that the NCAA committee examine and challenge the current rules around cannabis.