Athletes who play high or use regularly risk injury.

A decline in user coordination and motor control are two of the most well-known effects of marijuana/cannabis use. 
The drug is also lipophilic (fat-soluble-Video), which causes marijuana and hemp-derived cannabinoids to accumulate in the body. For some users this creates low levels of instability over periods of time - even after the acute "high" is over.

Athletes who play with or against athletes who play high or use regularly risk injury

The decline in user coordination and motor control can endanger those competing with and against the using athlete.

There are also well-documented and well-researched effects of marijuana-induced irrational behaviors that occur for a statistically significant number of cannabis users.

Because this drug accumulates in the body, instability and irrational behaviors are likely for some users even after the acute “high.”

allowing weed in college sports promotes in-equity

Without the consistent treatment of cannabis in college sports, some member institutions will deal with it harshly while others will stop dealing with it at all.

There is nothing less equitable than this, especially with inconsistent attitudes towards and understanding of cannabis

protect the mental health of athletes

Based on research, marijuana/cannabis use can be described as the single worst thing an athlete can do for their mental health, which is often noted as a NCAA priority. Athletes who are suffering need real help.

use on and off the field erodes athletic development

The brain is an athlete’s most important tool. 

Marijuana affects a group of neurotransmitters and receptors in the brain called the Endocannabinoid System. This system governs Movement, Memory and Motivation.

These functions = sports.

Also, negative effects can linger because marijuana is fat soluble - Understand fat-solubility (video)

if the Ncaa is serious about “growing the college sports ecosystem”

Growing the college sports eco-system means protecting it…protecting both college athletes and the pipeline that feeds college sports – youth sports (elementary through high school). This means always fortifying that which young athletes are aspiring to. Allowing weed to be a part of college sports is perverse and sends a perverse message to young athletes and their families. 
If the NCAA does not ban marijuana, the NCAA is allowing marijuana.

protect my kids!

Parents rely on collegiate athletic departments and the NCAA to protect the physical and mental health of their student athletes.

“Don’t put my college athlete in harm’s way of this drug. Also, don’t encourage or normalize the use of marijuana for my middle and high school athletes. If the NCAA allows marijuana, it is communicating incorrectly, ‘cannabis is not that bad for you.’” – Concerned Parents Across America

no Nil promotion of cannabis

Adolescents (middle and high school kids) look up to college athletes – protect this important and quite frankly sacred influence.

In addition to the dangerous message the NCAA would send institutionally, allowing college-athletes to develop identities around marijuana use and to promote cannabis products via NIL will damage, in a real sense, so many young athletes who look up to them, the very spirit of sport as well as college brands.

If marijuana is not on the NCAA’s banned substances list, it is open for NIL, and the marijuana industry will move quickly to find athlete influencers to rep their brands.

current ncaa rules around cannabis were updated in 2022 - more liberal change is NOT needed

NCAA rules around cannabis use were updated in 2022 – thresholds were aligned with WADA, which are too liberal for college (and quite frankly should be dialed back), but the consequences for crossing threshold are now much more reasonable for college. Although not perfect, current rules maintain a common guideline for all member institutions, which is critical for both equity and oversight.
The current guideline is effective in disallowing NIL engagement, protecting younger athletes from perverse messaging, and providing the NCAA and its member institutions a way to identify problematic-use, which allows those institutions to help athletes that might need it.
All of this is lost if the NCAA no longer bans and stops testing.

allowing cannabis in college sports will derail the ncaa’s “agenda for growth, transformation with a focus on serving student athletes”

Allowing cannabis in college sports can single-handedly derail this mission. Taking cannabis off the NCAA’s banned-substances list, simply allows cannabis use in all situations.

continue to empower the ncaa’s “effective prevention partners”

The NCAA identified Teammates, Parents, Coaches and Trainers as primary to preventing alcohol and drug use among college athletes and coined the term “Effective Prevention Partners.”

Taking cannabis off the NCAA list of banned substances hobbles these partners and devalues their hard work.

most college athletes are “drug minors” (under 21)

Not all, but a majority of college athletes are ages 18-22. Depending on how birthday’s fall, two-thirds to three-quarters of a college team may be underage.

Then there is the issue of brain development that is fast at work during this time and not fully complete until an athlete is in their mid to late twenties. Cannabis, in particular, has the potential to make significant negative changes to brain structures in users under 25.

None of the positive impacts promised by pro-legalization/pro-drug liberalization have come to pass.
We need our country’s institutions to recognize this well-documented reality and return to protecting public health.