News

Everything About Joseph Schooling’s Cannabis Consumption Summarised for You

2022-08-31 , 11:40 am

The big news that gripped the nation on Tuesday night (30 Aug) is Joseph Schooling’s cannabis consumption .

He, and national swimmer Amanda Lim, have apologised for their actions after admitting to cannabis consumption.

What Happened?

According to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Schooling had consumed cannabis while he was on short-term disruption from full-time National Service (NS) to train and participate in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Image: Dmytro Tyshchenko / Shutterstock.com

Although the urine tests for controlled drugs came back with negative results, he confessed that he had consumed cannabis while overseas in May.

However, it is unclear where he had consumed the drug.

Amanda Lim is also being investigated by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for possible cannabis use.

Both national swimmers were given a stern warning by CNB under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The Apology

In a statement posted on Instagram, Joseph Schooling wrote, “I am sorry that my actions have caused hurt to everyone around me, especially to my family and the young fans who look up to me.

“I gave in to a moment of weakness after going through a very tough period of my personal life. I demonstrated bad judgement, and I am sorry. I made a mistake and I’m responsible for what I’ve done. I will make amends and right what is wrong. I won’t let you down again.”

Lim also issued her apology, stating that she was “deeply sorry” for her actions.

She added that there was “no excuse” for her behaviour and promised to reflect on her mistakes.

“My swimming career has been filled with ups and downs over the past decade. Throughout the wins and losses, I’ve always strived to be better in and out of the pool,” Lim wrote.

The 29-year-old swimmer also said that she will be working with Sport Singapore to “become a better version of herself”.

Schooling is Singapore’s first and only Olympics champion who won the gold medal for the 100m butterfly event in the 2016 Rio Olympic, thus beating his childhood hero Michael Phelps.

The years following his stunning international debut were full of pitfalls: just months after the Rio Olympics, he tore his bicep twice while studying in the University of Texas.

On 18 November 2021, Schooling’s father Collin died at the age of 73, after battling cancer for a few months. He had always been supportive of Schooling’s swimming career.

Despite Schooling’s insistence that his father’s ailing condition had no bearing on his performance, he had revealed that he had been seeing a psychologist in order to learn how to cope with the bad news that may come his way.

Apparently, he had been working on an exercise with his psychologist on how to deal with a death of a loved one, and preparing for scenarios that may happen at the games.

“This sounds very morbid, but at that level of competition, you need to be prepared for everything. What if I woke up on the day of my 100m fly, and my dad passed? Am I going to give up years of work?” Schooling said in an interview.

During the Tokyo Olympics, Schooling had failed to qualify for the semi-finals as he clocked 53.12s during the 100m butterfly event, three seconds short of his gold-winning time in 2016.

Schooling made a comeback at the Hanoi SEA Games, winning two gold and one bronze medal in May.

Amanda Lim, aged 29, has been representing Singapore since 2007. She has attained 11 gold medals at the SEA Games and is a bronze medallist at the Asian Swimming Championships.

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MINDEF’s Response

In accordance with the existing protocol, Schooling will be placed under a supervised urine test regime for the next six months. He has also been issued a formal letter of warning.

If any Singapore Armed Force (SAF) personnel test positive during the six-month regime, they will be charged and sentenced accordingly.

Should Schooling repeat the offence, he may be sentenced to up to nine months of detention in the SAF Detention barracks.

Additionally, Schooling will no longer be eligible for leave or disruption to compete in swimming competitions while serving his NS.

Prior to this, Joseph Schooling had been granted deferment from 2014 to compete in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics.

He began officially serving in NS on 3 January 2022, though he was allowed short-term disruptions when he needed to train and compete.

Responses from Sporting Organisations

In light of the swimmers’ confession, Sport Singapore (SportSG) stated that it will be taking steps to correct the misconduct.

The national sports organisation noted that Lim and Schooling are national carded athletes who receive support from the agency.

As such, they are expected to “uphold the highest standard of conduct” at all times since they represent Singapore on the sporting world stage.

This sounds like something they said to national marathoner Soh Rui Yong when they decided to keep him off the list of participants for regional sporting events.

“Unlawful and unsportsmanlike conduct will not be condoned,” SportSG added.

Hence, SportSG will be conducting a comprehensive review of the circumstances behind these cases.

The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) will also be reviewing appropriate actions on their part.

Yeeks, Schooling and Lim are definitely in hot waters.

Furthermore, SportSG reiterated Singapore’s zero-tolerance stance towards drugs, and will be using this opportunity to engage swimming and other sporting fraternities to emphasise on the importance of adhering to Singapore’s drug laws at all times.

The president of Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) Mark Chay has also stated the association is disappointed by the two swimmers’ actions.

Former swimming chief Lee Kok Choy, who acted as SSA’s president from 2014 to June 2022, voiced his shock over the turn of events and stated that the two swimmers will have to face the consequences of their actions.

He noted that the SSA has not dealt with such cases in the past eight years, as it has always been clear about its tough stance against drug misuse.

Reactions from Fellow Athletes

The news came as a shock to members of the sports community.

National football team captain Hariss Harun admitted that he was taken aback by the news, but states that Schooling cannot change his actions from the past.

“He made a mistake, he confessed, showed remorse, and what is important now is that he gets all the help he needs to stay clean and come back as the Jo we know,” said Harun.

Marathoner Soh Rui Yong expressed his sympathies on social media, saying that Schooling has been through a tough time, pointing out that he had to deal with injuries that affected his fitness and form, and he recently lost his dad.

Worse, his swimming career is now in jeopardy, as is his freedom in NS.

“It looks like he did [cannabis] as a coping mechanism,” Soh added.

Regardless of what drove Amanda Lim and Joseph Schooling to cannabis consumption, it is still wrong in the eyes of the law.