Marijuana to remain on WADA's banned substance list

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has rejected the calls to remove marijuana from its list of banned substances on Friday. The apex body was requested to remove cannabis from its list of banned substances for athletes after US sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson was forced to miss the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the same last year.

Among the many who called for removal of marijuana from the list was World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe himself.

However, WADA, on Friday, in a statement said that it has decided to keep THC - the main psychoactive component of cannabis, on its banned substance list.

WADA further noted that its Ethics Expert Advisory Committee continued to consider the use of cannabis 'against the sprit of sport.'

The agency further stated that cannabis was only banned in competitions and that the threshold for a positive test was increased to 150ng/ml in 2013.

"We are also conscious that the laws of many countries - as well as broad international regulatory laws and policies - support maintaining cannabis on the List at this time," said WADA director general Olivier Niggli.

The decision is reported to have taken after a WADA executive committee meeting in Sydney. During the meeting, WADA also took the decision of adding pain-killing opioid Tramadol in its list of prohibited substances by January 2024.