On Tuesday, the NCAA's legislative council advanced a policy granting student athletes access to an unlimited number of snacks. The same day, it also voted to change the consequences for athletes who test positive for marijuana, reducing the punishment from a full-season suspension to a half-season.
Coincidence? Probably, even though it sounds like a half-baked joke straight out of a Cheech and Chong movie.
Per an NCAA release, the drug policy reflects the organization's determination that marijuana, in addition to other as-yet unnamed "street drugs," is "not performance-enhancing in nature."
"That doesn't mean you have to agree with it," writes CBS Sports. "It means placing pot in the same category as a steroid doesn't make much sense. One makes you bigger, the other makes you want to attack a bag of Cheetos."
For drugs that have been deemed performance-enhancing, the punishment remains unchanged: a full-season suspension.
The NCAA maintains the potential policy changes are components of a broader "student-athlete well-being" overhaul. By decreasing the punishment for a positive street drug test, the council hopes to "encourage schools to provide student-athletes the necessary rehabilitation."
So pot-smoking athletes don't exactly have license to break out the Cheetos or goldfish just yet, even in states where marijuana has been legalized for adult consumption.
The rule changes are subject to a final approval April 24, when the Division I Board of Directors meets. Should they be passed, they will go into effect August 1.