Snoop Dogg said sports leagues should relax their marijuana measures and should use cannabis to the benefit of their athletes.
During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Snoop Dogg said that sports leagues should stop testing players for marijuana use. The rapper, actor and cannabis activist said they should instead allow athletes to use cannabis for therapeutic purposes, as an alternative to opioids and other drugs.
The issue of cannabis use among athletes has been heavily discussed over the past few months, stemming from Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension from the Tokyo Olympics due to testing positive for cannabis use. Richardson, who had qualified for the events and was an exciting prospect for Team USA, had to drop out of the competition.
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Snoop was being interviewed by sports commentator and fill-in host Stephen A. Smith on Monday. Smith asked Snoop if he thought athletes should avoid cannabis use in order to earn penalizations and lose money. Snoop provided a thoughtful response, agreeing with Smith in some aspects but differing in others.
“Well, I agree with your position when it comes to the athletes who have commissioners and rules and regulations and tests and things that they have to deal with in their profession that could stifle them from getting their money,” he said. “Now when I’m speaking to entertainers and people like myself, we don’t have a commissioner, we don’t have none of that. Athletes can hang out with the rappers, but you can’t do what the rappers do because the rapper don’t have ramifications for what they do.”
Snoop then suggested that sports leagues should relax their marijuana policies, especially since athletes often have opioid problems. “ These athletes take these pills and they get addicted to these pills, and it still doesn’t give them the relief that they need as far as with the pain or whatever they’re going through,” he said.
“Through the CBD, through the THC, through the marijuana, through the cannabis, they’re able to find a relaxation and getting the medical treatment that they deserve—without having those later side effects—so I push for that in sports.”
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Cannabis use in sports has long been a controversial topic, especially in recent years as the drug has been legalized across the country. Richardson’s case has resulted in sympathy from entertainers like Snoop Dogg and Seth Rogen, to more conservative establishments, like the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Richarson said that she’s hopeful that her suspension can trigger some change, perhaps changing international policies for athletes and cannabis use.
