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Should Olympic athletes still be barred from consuming marijuana?

The suspension of a top United States athlete for using marijuana right before the Olympics has everyone from celebrities to President Joe Biden sounding off.

News 12 Staff

Jul 7, 2021, 11:03 PM

Updated 1,290 days ago

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The suspension of a top United States athlete for using marijuana right before the Olympics has everyone from celebrities to President Joe Biden sounding off.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in New Jersey, but the state is still working out details on how the industry will function.
Marijuana is legal in at least a dozen other states, including Oregon. Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson says she smoked there before the Olympic trials to cope with learning of her biological mother’s death.
The World Anti-Doping Agency still bans marijuana use, even after other high-profile cases, including Westfield’s Nick Delpopolo.
“I just think it’s stupid because it’s not performance-enhancing, so why are we testing for it,” he asks.
The two-time judo Olympian was kicked from the London games over a failed marijuana test. He says that weeks earlier, he unknowingly ate marijuana cake.
“Honestly, I was partying because I made my first Olympic team, and I made the team so late. I’m having a sendoff party and late night one thing led to another, and that’s it,” Delpopolo says
Marijuana is only banned within 24 hours of an event. For Delpopolo, that creates too much margin for error and the system needs more scrutiny. He says he feels for Richardson.
"I still got to experience that Olympics and I got to go back…my only regret is really not fighting for a medal or winning a medal in either,” he says.
Richardson won’t have the chance to see if she is the fastest woman on Earth.
USA Track chose to leave her off that relay team out of fairness to all the athletes, but the team also added that international marijuana rules need to be looked at.