The National Basketball Association (NBA) is ending a blanket ban on cannabis for its athletes, according to the terms of a new temporary collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association revealed over the weekend. According to a report from the athlete Citing sources familiar with the agreement with the organization, the NBA will also stop testing players for cannabis use and remove marijuana from its list of banned substances, following in the footsteps of other professional sports leagues, including Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL). The deal, which was agreed by negotiators for the league and the players union in late March, also allows players to invest in and promote regulated cannabis companies.
The NBA and the National Basketball Association (NBPA) announced early April 1 that they had reached agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, which will go into effect for the 2023-24 season and run through the 2028-29 season, with an option to extend for a year. one. the advertisement It did not include details of the terms of the agreement subject to ratification by players and team officials. But sources familiar with the negotiations exchanged select terms of the deal with Shams al-Shaaraniyya the athleteAnd which was posted on Twitter that “NBA players will no longer be prohibited from using marijuana under a new seven-year deal,” adding that cannabis “has been removed from the drug testing program, a process that began during the 2019-20 season.”
Previous NBA policy on cannabis included a ban on the use of the drug by all players. Policy violations were remedied by entering players into the league’s counseling and treatment program on the first offense. Subsequent violations resulted in a $25,000 fine for the second violation and a five-game suspension without pay for the third.
the The NBA has suspended testing of players to cannabis as part of the changes made after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In late 2020, league commissioner Adam Silver said the moratorium would likely become permanent. Silver added that instead of a mandatory testing program for all players, the league would approach players who appear to have problematic or dependency cannabis use and refuse to sanction players who are “casual marijuana users.”
“We decided, given all the things that were going on in the community, and given all the stress and tension the players were under, that we didn’t need to act like Big Brother right now,” Silver told NBC in a statement. quoted Marijuana moment. “I think society’s views on marijuana have changed somewhat.”
Professional sports and cannabis
The National Basketball Association (NBA)’s decision to end its cannabis ban on players follows similar actions by the leading professional sports leagues in the United States. MLB removed cannabis from its list of prohibited substances in 2019, though the current policy allows players to be punished if they appear to be under the influence of marijuana during games, practices, or team meetings. MLB took its toll on cannabis last year when it announced it would allow teams to enter into sponsorship deals with cannabis companies. Four months later, the league announced that Colorado-based Web Holdings’ products had been named “Official CBD of MLB. “
“As a leader in the CBD category, with products that provide health and wellness benefits, Charlotte’s Web is a welcome addition to the MLB family, and represents an outstanding partnership in baseball and the sport,” Noah Garden, MLB Chief Revenue Officer, states. he said in a press release from the league. “We are excited about the possibilities this partnership provides as CBD becomes a widely adopted part of the health and wellness regimen for our players and fans.”
The NHL also does not list cannabis as a banned substance and does not penalize players who test positive for the drug. Players with “abnormally” high levels of THC detected during testing are offered admission to a voluntary treatment program. The National Football League’s collective bargaining agreement for the 2020-21 season relaxed the league’s policy on marijuana, allowing players to use cannabis during the off-season while maintaining the ban throughout the playing season. The agreement also increased the level of THC that could be present in a player’s drug test prior to sanctioning by the league and ended the game’s moratorium on all positive drug tests, with players facing fines instead.
Justin Kahn, CEO and Co-Founder, Inc raiperInc., a company that offers DUI coverage to cannabis consumers, applauded the National Basketball Association’s decision to end its ban on cannabis for players.
wrote in an e-mail to hemp now. “The agreement in principle between the NBA and the NBPA is a huge step forward in destigmatizing cannabis and will lead to other professional sports leagues adopting similar rules. Across the country, employers should codify and similarly review their employment agreements. It’s time to destigmatize cannabis.” Cannabis consumption as a nation.”
