May 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. wrestler Stephany Lee forfeited her national championship after testing positive for marijuana at the April meet in Las Vegas.
Lee, 24, who wrestles in the 72-kilogram (158.5-pound) weight class, tested positive for carboxy THC, a marijuana metabolite, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said in a news release.
Lee’s three-month suspension was reduced to time served after she completed a USADA anti-doping educational program on May 9.
She also lost her No. 1 seed for the May 30-31 World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Rather than being an automatic finalist by virtue of winning the nationals, she’ll have to qualify.
National champion wrestler uses marijuana. World’s greatest Olympic swimmer uses marijuana. Various NBA and NFL players use marijuana. Pro wrestlers, champion sumo wrestlers, and mixed martial artists use marijuana. Olympic snowboarding wouldn’t even exist without marijuana. Where’s this amotivational syndrome I keep hearing so much about?
Why would world class athletes whose performance depends on their finely tuned human body use marijuana if it had the slightest chance of reducing their ability to train and perform?
Adam, your sin was in not Doing As You Were Told. It really comes down to only that. They have no legitimate case for punishing marijuana users, only “it’s illegal”. For many, they will see Stephany’s punishment as fair, because “nobody forced her to smoke pot” and “she knew it was illegal when she did it”. Those kind of people just accept authoritarianism and “because I said so” is a reasonable defense for bad policy.
This is a horrible occurrence. I recall seeing Stephany who was present several years ago when I attended Nationals in Fargo North Dakota. With that in mind, I know the pain this young woman is going through. Earlier this year I too was not only permanently kicked off my college wrestling team but also suspended from school. I understand that in taking part in this activity I was breaking an NCAA policy but my use of marijuana did not prevent me from maintaing an above average GPA, attending practice every single day, being a leader on my team on top of working a job. All of this was taken away because of my marijuana “abuse.” Additionally, I was arrested, taken out of my dormitory in handcuffs and forced into rehab (as an alternative to jail). I never understood much about marijuana while I used it, but now I understand its benefits and what it was doing for me. I never felt the need to use prescription pain killers like many other athletes that I participated with, hand have never been sick or depressed. Now I am currently going through “treatment” and haven’t used marijuana in several months. I feel no different and have only realized what needs to change to prevent more injustices from occurring. I hope everything works out for Stephany.
At this rate, pretty soon they will be admitting it is performance enhancing
I’ll tell you why: they made a CHOICE about what to put in their bodies.
Reefer Madness dictates that we cannot CHOOSE to use an illegal substace, we must be ADDICTED to it.
I chose long ago to use Cannabis as my recreational intoxicant instead of alcohol. I am probablly live longer and a healthier life becuase of it.
And I’M the outcast and criminal.