NBA suspends marijuana tests for 2020-21 season, cites pandemic challenges | Inquirer Sports

NBA suspends marijuana tests for 2020-21 season, cites pandemic challenges

/ 02:27 PM December 05, 2020

The NBA logo is displayed as people pass by the NBA Store in New York

The NBA logo is displayed as people pass by the NBA Store in New York City, U.S., October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and its NBPA players’ association have agreed to suspend random testing for marijuana during the 2020-21 season, a league spokesman said on Friday.

Players have already arrived in their home cities for the 72-game season, which starts on Dec. 22, two months after the NBA concluded last season inside a controlled quarantine “bubble” at Walt Disney World due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Due to the unusual circumstances in conjunction with the pandemic, we have agreed with the NBPA to suspend random testing for marijuana for the 2020-21 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” league spokesman Mike Bass said.

A total of 48 players out of 546 tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the NBA’s “initial return-to-market testing phase,” the league said on Wednesday.

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TAGS: Basketball, drug testing, Marijuana, NBA, NBA season

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