NBA Drops Marijuana Testing, Penalties Under Tentative Labor Agreement

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association have reached a new tentative labor agreement that will no longer penalize players for using marijuana and removes the substance from the league’s drug testing program. The seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement still needs ratification from players and team governors before becoming official.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced in late 2021 that the league would stop randomly drug-testing players for cannabis after reportedly pulling back on regulating use during the pandemic. The decision to remove marijuana from the anti-drug testing program reflects changing societal attitudes towards the substance. The reversal will go into effect this summer through the 2029–30 season if both parties do not opt out by the end of the 2028–29 season.

Other changes in the tentative agreement include allowing NBA players to promote and invest in betting and cannabis companies, sign non-gambling endorsement deals with sports betting companies and invest in teams in NBA and WNBA teams via a National Basketball Players Association-selected private equity firm. Details will become available once officials finalize a term sheet.

Former NBA players including Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Allen Iverson have been open about their cannabis use. Phoenix Suns star player Kevin Durant has also entered a multi-year deal with Weedmaps – an online weed marketplace – to destigmatize marijuana use in sports.

The National Football League reduced potential penalties for marijuana three years ago but did not completely exclude testing for the substance as more states started to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Officials in the Ultimate Fighting Championship also dropped penalties for fighters who tested positive for marijuana in January 2021.

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