Doobie Standard? Megan Rapinoe Promotes Cannabis Brand at Olympics After Sha'Carri Richardson Ban
The Summer Olympics are finally underway in Tokyo, sans U.S. track star Sha’Carri Richardson, whose failed drug test and ensuing suspension reignited the conversation over the criminalization of drugs in Black and brown communities last month. Well, consider soccer champ Megan Rapinoe’s latest brand deal additional fuel to that fire.
A recent Forbes piece centered on Rapinoe and a new addition to her training regimen - CBD gummies and topical sticks - began recirculating Friday afternoon within the context of Richardson’s very public exclusion from The Games for a slightly different substance, leading commenters to label the Olympics as “racist and sexist toward Black women” and “f--king gross.”
People are arguing that the differences between the substances are not significant enough to justify the difference in how they’ve been treated by the Olympics and media at large.
Ummmmm………UMMM? pic.twitter.com/WaADahCicL
— We Ascending (@KW33NSOHI9H) July 23, 2021
They disqualified Sha'Carri Richardson for testing positive for marijuana, but have these two white women promoting it and talking about using it to help them as athletes.
The @Olympics is racist amd sexist towards Black women. They're disgusting. https://t.co/GUJt75Gmtw
— Black Women's Lives Matter. Carolyn Hinds (@CarrieCnh12) July 23, 2021
Sha’Carri gets disqualified but Rapinoe gets amplified. THC and CBD come from the same plant lol. Reminds me of how Black people were punished 100:1 for crack vs. cocaine. Gotta love white privilege and institutionalized racism. https://t.co/Ddxc7gQysr
— Devan M. Vilfrard ✊🏾🇭🇹 (@ThoughtsFromDev) July 23, 2021
Fucking excuse me???? Sha’carri Richardson got banned for using cannabis AFTER SHE FOUND OUT HER MOTHER DIED WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED but somehow it’s ok for white people to incorporate it into their training regimes????? https://t.co/GP3ogqwydU
— Edgar Allan Bitch- Tea-Fuelled & Canon-Divergent (@edgar_a_bitch) July 23, 2021
White supremacy is banning Sha’Carri Richardson for smoking weed while Megan Rapinoe gets praised for her use of CBD. Highly reminiscent of how crack cocaine is infinitely more heavily criminalized than powder cocaine to ensure the disproportionate incarceration of Black people. https://t.co/nwYBCqd4wT
— Instructor Florence Ashley (@ButNotTheCity) July 23, 2021
So...the olympics can disqualify Sha’Carri Richardson for smoking cannabis under the guise of it being a performance enhancing drug, but ya throw a couple white folks advertising cannabis and not a fucking peep but an article in forbes?
saying the quiet part loud. https://t.co/WI7qAOjPRv
— Tay Mason || Friend Of Lucy || newAGEgun (@Friend_Of_Lucy) July 23, 2021
See…. THIS right here. Sha’carri couldn’t smoke due to a traumatizing loss but these white athletes get to be the “new face” of Cannabis @ the Tokyo Olympics. The hypocrisy is blatant. https://t.co/HD9ae3pIzu
— 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙 𝕶𝖎𝖒 💥 (@TheCourtKim) July 23, 2021
I dont give a fuck if its about cbd or thc they both come from the same plant!!
— TheTokenOneANDY🏳️🌈 (@TokenLoveJones) July 23, 2021
Girl who give a fuck. CBD and THC apart of the same cannabis plant. The point is things are only criminalized and penalized when Black people do it. White people always find a way to make things totally acceptable. Just like when weed was illegal until they found a way to profit.
— Mariah Matthews (@jawnifiedqueen) July 23, 2021
Even if this is abt CBD (not banned) & not THC (banned, what Sha’Carri tested positive for), the argument for banning THC is that its a performance enhancer for its relaxing & analgesic properties, which can also both b achieved w CBD use. The double standard continues to apply https://t.co/TZBpX40yDh
— chef angy (@uheeuhaha) July 23, 2021
Idgaf about the differences of CBD or THC, this is so fucking gross. https://t.co/8b34Z2NAc7
— Fae Black Lives Still Matter Kuh (@faekuh) July 23, 2021
To reiterate what many commentators on the other side of the debate said, CBD and THC, the chemical that disqualified Richardson from the competition, come from different plants, hemp and marijuana, respectively. These “sister plants” are related but it’s marijuana’s higher THC content and larger psychoactive effect that separates it from CBD, at least in the eyes of the Olympic committee.
It should also be noted that Rapinoe won’t be using Mendi products at the Olympics given Tokyo’s strict anti-cannabis laws. The article in question was simply framing Rapinoe’s adoption of Mendi, which was founded by her sister Rachel, within the broader narrative of the drug’s increased acceptance in the sports world at large. Well, in almost all of it.
In fact, the U.S. soccer captain voiced her support for Richardson earlier this month, tweeting, “This is trash. Standing with @itskerrii 100%. This has BEEN outdated.”
This is trash. Standing with @itskerrii 💯. This has BEEN outdated.
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) July 2, 2021
Richardson owned up to her drug use in an interview with NBC’s “Today” earlier this month, explaining how she’d used cannabis to cope with the “nerve shocking” news of her biological mother’s death.
“Who am I to tell you how to cope when you're dealing with a pain or you're dealing with a struggle that you've never experienced before, or that you've never thought you would have to do it?” she said. “Like who am I to tell you how to cope for them? Who am I to tell you that you are wrong for hurting?”
Read original story Doobie Standard? Megan Rapinoe Promotes Cannabis Brand at Olympics After Sha'Carri Richardson Ban At TheWrap
