Joseph Schooling Admits to Use of Cannabis, Banned from Future Competitions

Olympic gold-medal Singaporean swimmer, Joseph Schooling, was suspended from training and competing after he confessed to illicit use of cannabis in Vietnam last May.

Several news outlets have reported that Schooling has publicly apologised and admitted that his actions “demonstrated bad judgement.” The 27-year-old athlete would be unlikely to compete in the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia and the Asian Games in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in 2023, based on the report by the Straits Times via the South China Morning Post on Aug. 30.

Schooling has been serving his mandatory military service since January this year, estimated to last for about 22 to 24 months, as part of the requirement for all adult men in the city-state. The incident occurred during the swimmer’s service leave or “short-term disruption” from the National Service in order to train for the Southeast Asian Games, as per the press release from the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) on Aug. 30.

Despite Schooling’s negative results from the urine test for controlled drugs, he will still undergo a supervised urine test regime for six months because he abused his "disruption privileges." He is also no longer eligible for leave or disruption to train or participate in competitions while serving military service.

The MINDEF issued a formal warning letter to Schooling, informing him of the “serious consequences of drug abuse meted out to all SAF personnel, who may be sentenced up to nine months detention in the SAF Detention Barracks.”