NCAA raises THC levels for tests, proposes lesser penalties

By ERICA HUNZINGER
AP Sports Writer

The NCAA has relaxed the amount of THC an athlete can have to trigger a positive test, and is recommending less-stringent penalties for athletes who do test positive for marijuana. The threshold levels for THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana, will go from 35 nanograms per milliliter to 150 nanograms per milliliter, which the NCAA says is in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s levels. The threshold-level change is effective immediately and is retroactive to drug tests taken since fall 2021. Marijuana is legal in some form — medical, recreational or both — in the majority of U.S. states.