Olympics committee says Olympic ban on marijuana is a “tool” of racism after black track star suspended

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New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed Friday that the rule banning marijuana use during Olympic races is a “tool of racist and colonial politics.”

The congressman’s comments came on the heels of the announcement that US champion Sha Carrie Richardson would not compete in the 100m after she tested positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana, in Olympic trials – invalidating her first-place results.

Chakari Richardson plans to comment: “What are we doing here?”

Richardson, a black woman from Texas, has been suspended for one month, preventing her from being able to race the 100th in Tokyo but meaning she is still in the race for the women’s relay, with the trial not taking place until after July 27.

The 21-year-old’s suspension was reduced to one month from three because she agreed to participate in a counseling programme.

“The criminalization and prohibition of cannabis is a tool of racist and colonial politics,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday. The International Olympic Committee [International Olympic Committee] to reconsider her comment on Mrs. Richardson and any athletes sanctioned for cannabis use.”

Richardson is not the first athlete to face repercussions for marijuana use.

American sprinter Shakari Richardson misses Olympic 100m race over marijuana test

Michael Phelps, a 23-year-old gold medalist, received a three-month suspension from competition and lost his sponsorship to Kellogg’s after a photo surfaced showing him smoking a marijuana pipe in 2009.

Phelps, a white man from Maryland, has not actually tested positive for marijuana, but he has acknowledged the authenticity of the photo.

The photo was reportedly taken six months after the 2008 Olympics and his suspension ended in time to compete in the 2009 World Championships.

“I’m human,” Richardson said in a tweet, explaining in an interview Friday on the “Today” show that she “raised” her mother’s death.

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“It stirred up passions and certainly blinded me, blinded me by mischief and mischief and hid in mischief,” she said. “I know I can’t hide myself, so I was somehow trying to hide my pain.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News questions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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