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Spragga Benz Rebuked For Defending Sha’Carri Richardson

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ShaCarri Richardson
Sha’Carri Richardson

Veteran Dancehall deejay Spragga Benz was sharply rebuked by some of his Instagram followers after he expressed support for American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who was slapped with a 30-day ban last Monday for testing positive for marijuana which is a prohibited substance in sports.

Spragga’s sentiments are in stark contrast to many of his Jamaican compatriots as well as sports lawyer Dr Emir Crowne, who has argued that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) 30-day ban imposed on Richardson is too light.

Spragga reposted a video by former NBA star Stephen Jackson, which complained about racial discrimination and suggested that black American athletes withdraw from the US Olympic team if Richardson was not reinstated.  Jackson had also questioned why black athletes continue to represent a country that does not love them and noted that the US Olympic team would be weak without its black athletes.

“My thoughts on Olympics. I would never wanna represent a country that shows us daily they don’t care about us. If they don’t let @carririchardson_ run everybody should pull out and see what the Olympics would be like without us. Big Facts…,” Spragga shared in the repost from @stak5.

spragga
Spragga Benz

However, while the Jack It Up artist was supported by some of his followers, there were some athletics fans who took him to task for condoning indiscipline and taking a “wrong approach” to the matter.

“Really @spraggabenz3 I take a dim view of you in your response to the matter on hand. All because it involves weed you are taking that stance… When they gave the Jamaican team a hard time you NEVER seen any US people talking about cancel the games,” apollonialee said.

“When they over test Usain everytime he runs why didn’t you say cancel Olympics. What the country has to do with it?? Remember her response is ‘she’s human’ so as far as she’s concern its okay. Everyone knows the rules before they sign up.  Rules are made to be followed,” she added.

The USADA had sanctioned Richardson after she tested positive for 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (Carboxy-THC), a urinary metabolite of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive substance in marijuana that makes users “high”.

The test result came back from a sample collected from Richardson during the US Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, June 19 in which Richardson clocked a wind-aided 10.64 seconds in the semi-final and 10.86 in the final.

However, her marijuana-positive result has caused those results to be nullified, rendering her ineligible to compete in the heats of the women’s 100 metres at the Olympics on the first day of athletics, Friday, July 30.  However, the United States of America Track and Field, which is America’s athletics governing body is reportedly considering putting Richardson on its 4x100m relay team, which has its heat on Thursday, August 5.

Richardson has been harshly chastised and ridiculed by Jamaican athletics fans, especially on Twitter, as many have claimed that she “threw shade” at sprint icon and World Champion Shelly-ann Fraser Pryce, following the Jamaican’s world-leading time at the National Championships which made her the fastest woman alive.

The Twitter war had begun after The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper broke the news of the ban and was bombarded with insults from American nationals.

Spragga was also tersely scolded by nicky_focus who pointed to several other athletes, including some who were white, who had been banned, indicating that the actions taken by the Anti-doping Agency, had nothing to do with race.

“Spragg Benz, I normally agree with you, however, on this topic with Sha’Carri I disagree, the reason being is that she knew weed is a banned substance and still smoked it and blaming it on her biological mother who she apparently didn’t raised her.  Just yesterday another American who’s the defending champion on the female 100m hurdles got a five year ban for drugs along with two other runners, so if Sha is allowed to run then so should everyone who ran at the trials and qualified,” she argued.

“American Christian Cole who beat Bolt in his last race is also suspended until November for missing a few drug test, so should he also run? The test was done on U.S soil and it’s not only blacks were suspended also Shelby who’s white! Sha will not run and shouldn’t given the chance to run because it wouldn’t be fair on the other athletes who’ve tested positive for drugs/weed,” she added.

When Spragga countered that: “@nicky_focus weed slow yu down if anything not speed you up and its legal where she was”, he was given a sharp reprimand.

“Spragga Benz, Be that it may it’s been on the banned list and granted it’s legal where she was at the time, it’s not legal within her sports!” nicky_focus responded.

In an article which was published in The Sunday Gleaner today, Sports lawyer Dr Emir Crowne said that while believes marijuana should not be classified as a banned substance, the one-month suspension was a “rather light ban, particularly in an Olympic year”.  He also wondered whether or not other anti-doping bodies “would have been heavily criticised for offering such a lenient period of suspension”.

“Imagine if it was a Jamaican athlete, and JADCO (Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission) had offered that athlete a one-month ban so that the ban is up and the athlete could compete, nationally, in the relay. Wouldn’t the world have lost its mind?” he asked.

“But when it’s an American athlete, suddenly public sympathy is on the athlete’s side…,” he added.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has deemed marijuana a “Substance of Abuse” as it is frequently used in society outside the context of sport.