Radio NZ
Hurricanes rugby player Isaia Walker-Leawere has been banned for a month after testing positive for cannabis.
Walker-Leawere tested positive after the Hurricanes match against the Fijian Drua in May, a game in which he was sent off.
At a New Zealand Rugby anti-doping hearing Walker-Leawere revealed a couple of nights after the match he met with friends and smoked marijuana to “wind down”.
A few days later he was selected for anti-doping tests, returning a positive test and was provisionally suspended.
The usual ban for such an offence is three months but in a statement Drug Free Sport New Zealand said Walker-Leawere ban has been backdated July 5th and will be a months long, so long as he completes a treatment programme to address his substance use.
If he fails to complete the programme, the three month ban will apply.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/495372/hurricanes-player-suspended-for-cannabis-use
