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Author: Angela Schneider, Director, The International Centre for Olympic Studies, Western University
The recent suspension of American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who was supposed to be heading to the Tokyo Olympic Games, for testing positive for marijuana has once again raised questions about what drugs should be banned from sports.
Richardson’s suspension is seen by many as an absurd case namely, the idea of marijuana enhancing the performance in the 100-metre sprint. But as President Joe Biden noted: The rules are the rules. And Richardson herself has admitted being responsible for her actions.
But why is a recreational drug like marijuana on the banned substances list in the first place? And should we be reviewing this list because they seem like such ridiculous and cruel standards ?
Fifty years ago, on June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “full scale attack” on drug use. It was the beginning of the War on Drugs.
Nixon and many presidents since promised the War on Drugs would save lives. Trillions of dollars later, incarceration and preventable overdose deaths have skyrocketed and continue to rise.
After generations of broken lives, broken families, and broken dreams, we must end it now.
Nixon’s War on Drugs turned out to be a war on
people. Once he saw there was no political benefit in drug treatment, he declared “an all-out war on the drug menace” with a federal Drug Enforcement Agency and stiffer penalties. This helped Nixon target his political enemies.
New Mexico drug dogs are being forced into retirement by marijuana legalization. (Creative Commons)
Marijuana Policy
New Mexico Drug Dogs Face Retirement in Wake of Marijuana Legalization. Drug-sniffing police dogs in the state are being forced into retirement because they have been trained to alert on any drug, including marijuana, and cannot be retrained. As the Tucumcari Police Department noted as it announced the retirement of its drug dog, Aries: With the legalization of recreational marijuana, K9 Aries is unable to continue his function as a narcotics detection dog. Other cities and towns are doing the same thing, and so is the State Police, which will be retiring all nine of its current drug dogs. Once the new canines are trained, the handlers will have the option of retiring their current assigned canine to their home, or we will look at other options to the likes of donating them to other law enforcement entities outside of the state of New Mexico who have yet to legali
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