NAC: Jones test for recreation drugs was ‘adminstrative oversight’
If the NAC did not have the authority to act on an out of competition positive test for recreational drugs, then why did they administer a test for it?
On Monday UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones announced he was entering a treatment program for substance abuse.
On December 4, Jones was subjected to a random, out of competition drug test by the Nevada Athletic Commission. On Dec 23 the NAC received results from Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory of Salt Lake City, indicating that Jones had tested for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite of cocaine.
Jones was tested a second time, about a week after the first test, and passed that one.
Many members of the hardcore fanbase, a number of fighters, and no small number of MMA journalists have charged that a double standard was at play. Nick Diaz, Matt Riddle, and several other fighters have been fined or suspended after testing positive for marijuana, a far more benign drug that cocaine, yet Jones was allowed to fight in the main event of UFC 182 on Saturday. His win over Daniel Cormier stands, he is not suspended, and he gets his entire $500,000 purse (less $50,000 for the brawl that started it all).
However, the NAC did not sanction Jones in any way for the out of competition use of recreational drugs, because they had no authority to.
The NAC follows the World Anti-Doping Agency code on drug testing. WADA prohibits the use of recreational drugs in competition. Their definition of In Competition is the twelve hours before a competition. WADA does not prohibit the use of recreational drugs out of competition. Out of competition drug use fulls under the purview of local, state, Federal, and international law enforcement, not WADA.
You cannot compete while you are high on drugs, for obvious reasons including danger to yourself due to slowed reactions, and potential unfair advantages like higher tolerance to pain and heightened aggression. But use of recreational drugs out of competition has no beneficial effect on athletic performance, and thus has no relevance.
Performance Enhancing Drugs are of course another matter entirely. Use of PEDs out of competition do have an effect on athletic performance, and thus do have relevance.
The question then was if the NAC did not have the authority to act on an out of competition positive test for recreational drugs – which they didn’t – then why did they administer an out of competition test for recreational drugs, twice?
Ariel Helwani reporting for MMA Fighting spoke with NAC executive director Bob Bennett
“That was a bit of an anomaly that will be addressed [at the next NAC hearing on] Jan. 12,” explained Bennett. “It was not a report requested by the NAC. It appears to have been an administrative oversight.”
There are further questions about who knew about the test results, and when.
The NAC received the test results on Dec 23. NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar told Helwani that the UFC was informed around that day. Sources told Helwani that Jones learned about the test result from UFC officials on Monday, two days after his title defense with Cormier.
Jones then checked himself into a treatment program in his new home state of New Mexico.