Olympic Trials and Tribulations
"Everything I do comes from me naturally. No steroid(s). No anything.”
- Sha’Carri Richardson
The issues caused by incongruity between public sentiment and the government's stance on cannabis rears its ugly head once again. This time Sha'Carri Richardson is caught in the midst with her dream of competing in this year's Olympics in jeopardy. We’ve highlighted in previous posts how the current landscape of federal legalization creates real material harm for Black and Brown folks.
This shouldn’t be an issue. Marijuana is not a performance enhancer, and if she was not smoking during her trials, then what she does, in a recreationally legalized state, should be no one’s business but her own.
"The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced the positive test result Friday morning, and said that Richardson had accepted a suspension of one month, starting on June 28th. That could clear her in time to run in the 4x100 meter relay that takes place later...if she is named to the U.S team."
The World Anti-Doping Agency is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The World Anti-Doping Agency and the USADA label cannabis as a banned substance as it "poses a health risk to athletes, has the potential to enhance performance and violates the spirit of sport." WHERE? And a month after cannabis-use?
While dealing with grief, the last thing she needs is to go on a media circuit *and* apologize! This country is on a fast course towards legalization, and with 15 states fully legal and 48 out of 50 states allowing some form of medical marijuana...why try her or any athlete for that matter? “Rules are rules” is not an appropriate or nuanced stance on this matter. Who are any of us to tell her how to grieve? But grief aside, let’s say she was using it just because… this suspension is still baseless.
We as communities of color know far too well how “rules” help prop up oppressive policies that only are set in place to destroy, dehumanize and control marginalized communities.
Let’s not forget, slavery was legal. This stance on marijuana and the stance on marijuana has always been rooted in racism and the very act of testing for marijuana is systemic racism. You do not have to be grieving or going through any traumatic experience to justify your use of cannabis.
The lack of continuity on the legality of marijuana must change in America.
The lack of congruence and unified stance continues to stand in the way of many people’s dreams, has ruined lives and with federal legality in the balance, medical research on the effects of marijuana on athletes and non-athletes alike has not occurred. It’s one thing if there are studies that were looked at and were the basis for a suspension, but as the small amount of scientific evidence we have, THC is not a performance enhancer for track and field one month after use.
The suspension in this regard is a lesson to no one. While the U.S public has moved progressively on their stance on marijuana, it seems federal organizations have not. Richardson had to not only complete a “counseling program” specifically for cannabis, but the 21-year old will also have to forfeit any medals, prizes and points earned during her Olympic trials. As she has stated, "Right now I'm just putting all of my time and energy into dealing with what I need to do to heal myself," It’s time we give Black women the space to be heal freely, live honestly, and holistically without fear of judgement and pressure of respectability politics… for Black women to feel what they feel and experience and express all emotions….for Black women to make mistakes and not be held extra accountable… to be them, unabashedly.