Should WADA clear marijuana smoke?

News that American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson would not compete in the 100m at the Olympic Games after being hit with one-month suspension for testing positive for cannabis has led to widespread debate over whether or not the substance should remain on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list.

As first reported by the RJRGLEANER Group on Thursday, Richardson, who shot to fame after posting several sub-11 seconds times and winning the event at the US Olympic Trials, will not be allowed to compete in the 100m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this month, after the prohibited substance was found in her system.

The anti-doping test was conducted at the Trials by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. There is the possibility that Richardson will be named to Team USA’s 4x100m relay team for the Olympics, with that event scheduled after the expiration of her suspension.

Despite the increasing decriminalisation of marijuana across the world, biochemist Dr Aldeam Facey says that currently the resulting effects of cannabis merit its inclusion on WADA’s list of prohibited substances.

He underlined that the drug’s ability to make pain manageable as well as its potential mental effects can provide an advantage in sports performance and could also cause harm.

“It may be seen as a performance-enhancing substance in that it increases the pain threshold, allowing her (Richardson) to have more endurance. While an athlete may slow down a bit because of a lactic acid build-up, she would be able to endure more pain provided that she is using that substance,” Facey told The Sunday Gleaner.

WADA in 2011 justified the inclusion of marijuana and cannabinoids (natural compounds found in the cannabis plant) on their prohibited list for in competition use, claiming that the substance either poses a health risk to athletes, has the potential to enhance performance or violates the spirit of sport. Two of those three criteria must be met in order for a substance to be added to WADA’s prohibited list.

SEVERAL VARIANTS

“When it comes to marijuana you have several variants, which are not psychoactive. Those that have the psychoactive components are in the banned list because they may influence the athlete’s decision-making, allowing the athlete to harm themselves or harm others,” Facey added.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the principal psychoactive component of cannabis and their natural and synthetic variations are prohibited as well as synthetic cannabinoids ‘that mimic the effects of (THC)’. However, there is a threshold of 150 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml) that is allowed to be detected in an athlete’s urine sample that will not result in a positive test.

Former Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission Executive Director Renee Anne Shirley said that the critical factor was the level of the substance found in her system that triggered the positive test.

“It was too much in her system and that is the problem. If you got tested for marijuana like say in the European countries in your job situation, the threshold is at 15 ng/ml. The International Olympic Committee moved it to 150 ng/ml. That’s a tenfold increase,” Shirley said. “And that was the compromise that was made so that if you smoke a little weed, you should be able to get through.”

Sports medicine specialist Dr Paul Wright added that although there is no current evidence to prove that cannabis is a masking agent, which is substance used to prevent the detection of a banned substance, the varying psychoactive effects is why WADA has prohibited its use during competition.

“All the research so far has not found cannabis to be a masking agent but looking at how (the psychoactive properties) affect the brain of people, it affects different people in different ways,” Wright said.

CALLS FOR LENIENCY

While there have been calls for leniency regarding Richardson’s sanction, Shirley says that athletes are ultimately held accountable for the substances ingested.

“You have to understand every time you are going to take something and put it on your body or inside of your body, you are responsible for it,” Shirley said. “You can’t say that you didn’t know.”

Facey says more research and its subsequent findings would affect any potential changes but until then, the rule is set in stone.

“That is the rule right now. It is a banned substance. Whether that changes in the future I don’t know, but as it stands, it is a banned substance and we just have to work with it,” Facey said.

Meanwhile, in response to Richardson’s suspension, US President Joe Biden commented: “The rules are the rules and everybody know what the rules were going in. Whether they should remain that way ... is a different issue,” Biden was quoted as saying by Forbes.

Richardson in an NBC interview on Friday apologised and accepted responsibility for the failed test.

She pointed to the recent death of her biological mother as the trigger for her use of the drug and shared that while she would love the chance to compete at the Olympics, she is focused on dealing with the psychological effects of her loss.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com