For years the cannabis community has been fighting against the age-old "lazy stoner" stereotype. The misconception that cannabis use makes people lazy and unmotivated. Despite being completely unfounded - and just downright absurd - this stereotype continues to be perpetuated to this day.
Enter Sha'Carri Richardson. The track and field star athlete - who became the 6th fastest woman of all time back in April of this year - became an overnight sensation when she won the 100 meter dash at the Olympic Trials last month. But, just as quickly as she rose, she was knocked back down to reality when she was banned from competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics because she tested positive for THC. Something she admitted to using to help get her through one of life's toughest moments: the death of a parent.
According to a VICE article, a banned substance must pose “a health risk to athletes”; it must have “the potential to enhance performance”; and, most ambiguously, it “violates the spirit of sport.”
“There’s no evidence for that [classification] whatsoever,” said Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a physician, and professor at Harvard Medical School. “If it’s performance-enhancing, why did you spend 60 years saying it causes amotivational syndrome? And if it harms the athletes, how is it performance-enhancing?”
“What is this magical drug that’s bad in every possible parameter, even if the parameters contradict each other?” he added.
So...does cannabis make you lazy, or does it enhance your performance?
It's time the World Anti-Doping Agency revisited the banned substances list and removed cannabis from that list. It's time the federal government revisited the controlled substances list and removed cannabis from that list. It's time we stop robbing talented people of their dreams because of old laws and rules that were put in place to oppress primarily marginalized people and communities.
Sha'Carri has received an outpouring of support from fellow athletes, celebrities, cannabis brands and advocates, and even politicians. While she may have lost the battle to show the world her talents at this year's Olympics, she may go down in history as one of the catalysts that pushed cannabis reform forward, and for that, she should be proud.
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