Owen Trout served one-month cannabis ban and is free to compete

England forward Owen Trout has already served a one-month suspension after a positive cannabis test, BBC Sport reported on Thursday. The 27-year-old admitted the anti-doping charge and completed an approved treatment programme. The sanction relates to a test taken earlier in the year, rather than a new period of suspension beginning now.

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The sample was collected following Leigh Leopards' Super League match against Wakefield on 20 March. It contained carboxy-THC, a metabolite of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. BBC Sport reported that Trout acknowledged smoking cannabis and consuming a cannabis gummy during the week before the match after being notified of the finding.

UK Anti-Doping notified Trout and provisionally suspended him on 22 May. A formal charge followed on 20 July, which he admitted. His suspension was counted as running from 22 May until 21 June, with the time he had already spent provisionally suspended credited towards the one-month penalty, according to BBC Sport.

A UKAD statement published by the Rugby Football League explains the rules behind the length of the sanction. THC is banned in competition and is classified as a substance of abuse under the 2026 prohibited list. A three-month penalty can apply when an athlete establishes that consumption happened outside competition and was unrelated to sporting performance. Completing an approved treatment programme can reduce that period to one month.

In Trout's case, an independent scientific expert considered it most likely that he had consumed THC outside competition, before 11:59pm on 19 March. The statement says Trout told UKAD he had stopped using cannabis. He subsequently supplied satisfactory evidence that he had completed the treatment programme. UKAD confirmed that he is now free to participate in sport.

BBC Sport also reported that Trout is moving from Leigh to the NRL's Sharks this off-season. He earned his only England cap to date against Australia last year. The newly reported disciplinary details therefore concern a completed suspension during his time with Leigh, ahead of his move to Australian rugby league.