Rules for the sake of rules.
I really don't get how marijuana is a banned substance for athletic purposes. This has nothing to do with whether I think it should be legal in general (though I basically think that it and pretty much everything else should be decriminalized), that's a different conversation. I get how steroids and steroid-masking supplements and so forth are banned for athletic purposes. But... how is marijuana banned? That just seems like the kind of thing that would be decidedly ADVERSE to athletic preparation or performance. Certainly not anything that would give you a leg up on the competition.
I remember we used to go to away-games when I was a high school football player and, sometimes, the guest locker room would have several iced coolers filled with delicious Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, etc. This was a cunning strategy by the opposing team. The cola-filled coolers were offered as an expression of "courtesy" but, really, they were hoping to tempt us into dehydrating ourselves before the game. We'd have to sit in the (often hot, un-air-conditioned) locker room until 7 PM kickoff and resist the temptation to guzzle down a bunch of Coke.
The point is- at least where athletes are concerned- I'd put marijuana and the like in the same category as Coca-Cola. That is, it's definitely not a supplement that will improve athletic performance. If anything, next time we host the Olympics in the United States, we should give as many complementary samples as possible to the Russian and Chinese competitors 🤷♂️
Again, this has nothing to do with marijuana's overall status and the ongoing debate surrounding its legality.
This is about its status as a banned substance for athletic purposes, which makes no sense. There are some great athletes out there who could probably stay up all night partying, drink four Cokes, and then get as high as Lewis Carroll before he wrote Alice in Wonderland then STILL win their event. But that doesn't mean any of that stuff helped them do it. They were just making it harder on themselves.
That's what marijuana did to her. She made athletic preparation a little more difficult. Certainly not easier.
I don't get it.
Let this woman go to Tokyo if she's capable.
It makes no sense. Wasn't the US swimming team under the rule of not smoking the day of a competition?
There are dozens of medicinal cannabinoids in cannabis. They reduce inflammation, help healing, protect nerves, improve oxygenation, treat pain, and so on. I don't think we can assume the cannabis only "made it more difficult" on herself, although I get what you're saying.
Anyhow, that said, I don't think she should be penalized. Cannabis is medicine. Performance enhancing? Maybe, if you consider tylenol to be performance enhancing. Cannabis is awesome, but using it shouldn't be considered cheating!