The NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) has called for the move.

Cannabis' place on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, under substances of abuse, is a contentious issue, as more countries are legalising and decriminalising marijuana.

Calls for cannabis to be removed from the list grew after American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson was ruled out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to testing positive for the recreational drug, which is legal in many states in the United States.

However, the WADA Executive Committee in September last year approved it to remain in place, following a List Expert Advisory Group recommendation.

The CSMAS cited the decision of the Summit on Cannabinoids in College Athletics last December which concluded that marijuana was not a performance-enhancing drug and should be "shifting toward a harm reduction philosophy for cannabis, similar to the approaches taken with alcohol".

The panel also supported the development of an education programme to provide guidance about the health threats posed by cannabis.

All three NCAA divisions would need to approve the removal of cannabis from the banned list for the legislation to be implemented.

Division II and III have asked CSMS to further consider the cannabis policy and whether NCAA drug testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances.

The CSMAS has said that it is seeking support from the NCAA Board of Governors to stop testing for cannabis at the organisation’s events while legislative action is considered.

Last year, the NCAA increased the threshold of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish - from 35 to 150 nanograms per millilitre.