Auburn rescinds recruit's offer due to NCAA ban on CBD he uses for epileptic seizures
In today’s sports landscape, a player being banned for a positive drug test, especially one for marijuana, is so common that it hardly qualifies as news.
But for Auburn football recruit C.J. Harris, his cannabis-related ban from the NCAA comes with a twist right out of an M. Night Shyamalan flick.
Auburn rescinded its football walk-on offer to the safety, whose Warner Robins High School won Georgia’s state championship in his senior season, based on NCAA guidelines about medical marijuana that include CBD oil, the medically active substance that drives much of the science behind the cannabis plant’s medicinal qualities.
CBD, incidentally, is not THC, the stuff in weed that gets you high and leads to unpleasant side effects like hallucinations, a voracious appetite and thinking Adam Sandler is funny.
But from where the NCAA is sitting, it’s just reefer madness all the way down.
According to Deadspin, “after Harris submitted his medical records, Auburn coaches reneged on their offer, citing the NCAA’s restrictions on THC among athletes.” Auburn rescinded his offer despite the fact that he and his family have been vocal about his condition and why he uses CBD.
Harris takes CBD for his epilepsy; it has been shown to provide a safe and effective treatment for seizures with far fewer adverse effects than many other seizure medications on the market.
In a bit of a surprise twist, it is a Republican in the Georgia state legislature, state Rep. Heath Clark of Harris’ hometown of Warner Robins, who is using this case to push for medical marijuana reform in the Peach State.
“Just over a year ago, he was having 2-3 seizures a month,” Clark told fellow lawmakers in February, pointing to a photo of Harris, according to the Ledger-Enquirer. “He didn’t think he was going to get to play athletics anymore. His dreams were in the balance.”
In describing the seizures, which started in middle school, Harris underlined just what a nightmare they posed for his quality of life and, indeed, his own safety.
“I wake up every morning and I pray, ‘Please don’t let nothing happen today. Please don’t let nothing happen today,'” Harris told WSB-TV.
And the anticonvulsant pills he was prescribed for the condition? “It wasn’t working, and I was still having seizures,” he told The Macon Telegraph.
In 2015, Georgia legalized CBD as a treatment for various diseases, including Harris’ condition.
“So, some teachers and some of the other people around the (school) community realized it wasn’t working. They found this oil for me, and they said it would be a better resource than the pills,” Harris said.
And indeed, the oil worked.
Clark, clearly happy that his work in government had done some good for one of his constituents, said, “Because of the work that we have done, that we have fought for, he was able to get on the list for medical cannabis oil, and he has been seizure free for over a year.”
At the state capitol in February, Clark challenged Attorney General (and fellow Republican) Jeff Sessions’ crackdown on cannabis at the federal level.
“I want to urge Congress to change the laws and change the scheduling of marijuana to allow for medical research and medical purposes. It’s time for Congress to act,” Clark said.
“Speak up for young men like C.J. Harris,” Clark told lawmakers. “We need to be resolute and resolved in what we do in this body until every man like C.J. Harris has an opportunity to pursue his dreams.”
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