A close-up of Sour Diesel plants in the flowering room at Colorado shop High Country Healing in Silverthorne in January 2015. (Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file)

Japan’s snowboard team suspends two teens over pot use in Colorado

TOKYO — The Ski Association of Japan has indefinitely suspended two teenage snowboarders after they were found to have used marijuana on a tour to the United States in December.

According to Kyodo news, Fumikazu Hagiwara, the head of the SAJ’s snowboarding department, resigned Wednesday over the incident.

One of the teenagers admitted to smoking marijuana at a party in Colorado, where cannabis is legal for recreational purposes if you are 21. The other has denied using the drug.

The SAJ did not give the names of the athletes because they are minors.

In addition, they have been removed from the list of Japanese Olympic Committee elite athletes, making their participation in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics uncertain.