Cannabis policy in sport changed faster than the articles describing it. Most of what you will find online is two or three policy cycles out of date, and the errors run in one direction: they describe bans that no longer exist.
This is a league-by-league account of where things actually stand, with the dates and the numbers. It is about rules, not about what any product does for you.
WADA and the Olympics
The holdout. Cannabinoids remain prohibited under Section S8 of the World Anti-Doping Code, and the 2026 Prohibited List made no changes to those rules.
Three specifics matter more than the headline:
In-competition only. Out-of-competition cannabis use is not a violation under the WADA Code. The in-competition window is defined precisely: from 11:59 p.m. on the day before a competition through the end of that competition and the sample collection process.
The threshold is 150 ng/mL of delta-9 THC in urine, with a decision limit of 180 ng/mL. That figure has stood since 2013, when WADA raised it tenfold from 15 ng/mL specifically to separate intentional in-competition use from residual metabolites of earlier use.
CBD is exempt, and has been since 2019. It is the only cannabinoid carved out. Every other cannabinoid, natural or synthetic, is prohibited in competition, and no other one has a threshold — any detectable amount is a violation.
WADA reviewed the policy in 2022 after the Sha'Carri Richardson case, in which the sprinter tested positive at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, served a one-month suspension and missed the Tokyo Games. The review concluded that THC met the criteria for inclusion and the ban stayed.
The threshold is high, not safe. The pharmacokinetics are not binary even though the rule is. THC-COOH persists for days to weeks, so out-of-competition use that is entirely permitted under the Code can still produce an in-competition adverse finding.
The NCAA
The NCAA no longer bans cannabis in any division, and Divisions II and III got there first.
D2 and D3 removed THC from their testing in April 2024, effective immediately, across all NCAA-sponsored drug-testing events in those divisions. Division I followed on June 26, 2024, when its Council voted to remove cannabinoids from the banned drug list for championships and postseason competition — and applied the change retroactively, discontinuing penalties players were serving at the time.
The stated reasoning was narrow and worth quoting: the drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage.
That followed a 2022 change raising the threshold from 35 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, aligning with WADA, and a committee recommendation in September 2023 that the ban be dropped entirely.
Cannabinoids no longer appear as a banned drug class on the NCAA's current list at all. The enumerated classes are stimulants, anabolic agents, beta blockers, diuretics and masking agents, and peptide hormones.
What still applies: NCAA testing covers postseason and championship events. Schools and conferences set their own in-season policies independently, and those vary widely — so an athlete's remaining exposure comes from the institution, not from the NCAA. That holds across all three divisions.
The NFL
Reformed twice, and still the strictest of the major North American leagues on paper.
The 2020 collective bargaining agreement ended suspensions for positive cannabis tests and narrowed the testing window to a short period at the start of training camp.
In December 2024 the league and the players association went further: the THC limit constituting a positive test rose from 150 ng/mL to 350 ng/mL, and penalties became fines rather than game time. A first offense is a $15,000 fine, a second $20,000, a third a full game's pay, a fourth a two-game fine.
Cannabis remains formally in the NFL's substances of abuse program. The practical effect of a 350 ng/mL cutoff on a once-a-year test is something close to symbolic.
The NBA and the WNBA
The NBA removed cannabis entirely. Testing was paused in 2020, and the collective bargaining agreement ratified in 2023 dropped cannabis from the Anti-Drug Program's prohibited list rather than merely suspending enforcement. That agreement runs through the 2029-30 season. It also permits players to invest in and promote cannabis and CBD companies within defined limits.
This is the claim most often reported wrongly, including in the earlier version of this article: the NBA did not simply pause testing and leave it in limbo. Cannabis was removed.
Synthetic cannabinoids remain prohibited as drugs of abuse, which is a separate category.
The WNBA followed in 2026, ratifying a collective bargaining agreement on May 22 that removed marijuana from its prohibited substances list and ended routine random testing. Players may still be tested in specific circumstances — entering the drugs of abuse program, appearing impaired during team activities, or a documented dependency. The same agreement added four psychedelics to the banned list for the first time.
Major League Baseball
MLB removed marijuana from its prohibited substances list in the 2019 offseason and has not tested for it since.
The distinction it kept is about conduct rather than consumption: players can face discipline for appearing under the influence during games, practices, workouts or other work-related activity. That is closer to how most employers treat alcohol than to a doping rule.
The UFC and combat sports
The UFC stopped disciplining fighters for cannabis in 2021, then removed it from the banned substances list altogether, effective December 31, 2023.
And here is the gap almost nobody mentions. A promotion dropping cannabis does not override the state athletic commission that sanctions the event.
Ahead of UFC 298 in Anaheim in February 2024 — weeks after the UFC's own removal took effect — the promotion emailed fighters warning them to discontinue use immediately, because the California State Athletic Commission could still fine them $100 for testing above 150 ng/mL. That commission's policy is built on WADA guidance, so it kept the threshold the UFC had just abandoned.
Nevada went the other way. Its athletic commission had been waiving penalties informally since 2021, and on October 29, 2024 formally adopted language stating that possession, use or consumption of cannabis will not be deemed an anti-doping violation — notwithstanding the laws of wherever that use occurred. Nevada still adopts the WADA list; it carved cannabis out of it explicitly. Florida's boxing commission had stopped testing entirely back in 2021.
So in combat sports the binding rule is frequently the commission's, not the promotion's, and it can differ by state for the same fighter on the same card. If you compete, that is the document to read.
The CBD problem nobody warns athletes about
CBD is permitted by WADA and unremarkable under most league policies. The risk is not the rule — it is the product.
Full-spectrum CBD contains trace THC by definition, and third-party testing has repeatedly found CBD products mislabeled as to their cannabinoid content. Small amounts taken consistently can accumulate. An athlete relying on a label is relying on the manufacturer's accuracy, which is not guaranteed.
If you are subject to any testing regime, isolate or broad-spectrum products carry less risk than full-spectrum, and a current batch Certificate of Analysis matters more than the front of the package. Our guide to reading a weed label covers how to check one, and full-spectrum versus isolate covers what those terms mean.
For what separates hemp-derived CBD from marijuana as a legal matter, see hemp versus marijuana.
Where this leaves things
Of the seven bodies above, five no longer test for cannabis in any meaningful way. The NFL tests once a year at a threshold more than double the WADA figure. WADA is the genuine holdout, and its rule applies only during a narrow competition window.
That is a near-complete reversal in roughly six years, and it happened league by league rather than all at once — which is exactly why so much of the published guidance is wrong.
None of which is advice about whether to use anything. These are rules about testing and eligibility. Whether cannabis belongs in any individual's training or recovery is a question for that person and their physician, and this article takes no position on it.
Sources and further reading
- U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, WADA Prohibited List — the 150 ng/mL threshold, the CBD exemption, and in-competition scope
- U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Marijuana FAQ
- NCAA, committee support for removing cannabis from the banned drug list — the 2023 recommendation preceding the 2024 vote
- NFL adopts new marijuana policy, reducing fines and increasing the THC limit — the December 2024 changes
- NORML, NBA removes cannabis from prohibited substances list
- UFC warns fighters over California athletic commission rules — the $100 fine and the 150 ng/mL state threshold
- Nevada officials adopt rule to stop penalizing fighters over marijuana — the October 2024 carve-out language
This article describes league and anti-doping policy as of September 17, 2026. These rules change by collective bargaining agreement, by annual prohibited list revision, and by state athletic commission ruling — several changed within the last two years, and the dates above are given so you can check whether they have moved again. Confirm current policy with your own governing body before relying on anything here. This is general information, not legal, medical or eligibility advice.