The UFC has “essentially” classified marijuana as a criminal offense in its anti-doping policy, promotional and anti-doping partner USADA said Thursday.
As of January 1, a positive drug test for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, will no longer be considered a violation – unless the USADA can demonstrate that an athlete intentionally used it for performance enhancement, a press release.
Jeff Novitzky, UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance, told ESPN that the decision means the USADA’s burden of proof of positive drug tests for cannabis would be extremely high, which “essentially” completely lowers marijuana sanctions. Novitzky said the USADA had to prove that a fighter was “impaired” due to cannabis shortly before the fight in order to impose a sanction.
“I can’t think of any historical case where this evidence was present,” Novitzky said. “It would probably require visual cues for the athlete to show up at an event that trips and smells like marijuana, eyes bloodshot, things like that. And that’s … something you rarely, if ever, see. I got it with Security not in my six years with the UFC. “
Even if the USADA found such evidence, Novitzky said the fighter in question would be more likely to receive admission to a treatment program than suspension.
Novitzky said the UFC and USADA wanted to make the change because there is no scientific correlation between THC levels in urine or blood samples and the actual impairment. The effects of THC last for hours, not days, Novitzky said.
“Why the hell we don’t care what someone did a week before, let alone the night before, if it doesn’t affect their fighting ability,” Novitzky said.
Many fighters, Novitzky said, use marijuana instead of opioids or depressants like Xanax or Ambien.
“This change is intended to prioritize the health and safety of fighters by not penalizing fighters who may need drug abuse treatment. This can result in a fighter being compromised and compromising their safety in the octagon,” the said USADA press release.
But the fighters are not quite out of the woods yet. While the USADA will no longer be strict on positive marijuana tests, most sports committees that oversee UFC events can still be.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has suspended fighters for up to nine months and voided wins for any competitions in the past two years because they tested positive for cannabis. Last year the NSAC started reducing cannabis suspensions to six months or less. The NSAC suspended UFC fighter Bevon Lewis for six months and fined him $ 1,200 on Wednesday for a positive drug test for cannabis. The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) recently began punishing fighters with $ 100 for positive marijuana tests without further sanction.
