Nate Diaz gets USADA public warning only over post fight Vape pen

At the UFC 202 post-fight media scrum, Nate Diaz was openly vaping.

“It’s CBD,” said Diaz. “It helps with the healing process and inflammation, stuff like that.”

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the active cannabinoids in cannabis, accounting for up to 40% of the plant’s extract. However clinical reports show a lack of psychoactivity, and non-interference with psychomotor learning and psychological functions. In otherwords, it doesn’t get you high.

Never the less, CBD is a cannabinoid, which places it on the WADA prohibited list.

Here's Nate Diaz smoking a vape pen immediately following #UFC202. Says it's CBD oil. (vid by @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/zf113ej9Gy

— Mike Johnston (@MikeyJ_MMA) August 21, 2016

Diaz vaping post-fight placed him at the beginning of a regulatory gauntlet. Like all UFC fighters in competition, Diaz was at that moment potentially subject to sanction by both the government regulating body (in this case the Nevada State Athletic Commission) and the UFC’s drug testing body (United States Anti-Doping Agency or USADA).

#1. The NSAC

You can’t fight while drunk, but as far as the NSAC is concerned, you can go get drunk once the fight is over. The same thing is true with other recreational drugs. Or in this case, a not recreational drug. The NSAC said they were not going to impose a punishment on Diaz as it happened post fight and post post-fight test. To the NAC a fight is over when it is over, and the post-fight test has been administered. So far, so good, so rational.

#2. The Post-Fight Test 

UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky told Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting that Diaz had passed his post-fight test. Again, so far, so good, so rational.

#3. The definition of In Competition

USADA has a clear definition of In Competition:
In-competition refers to the period commencing twelve hours before a competition in which the athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of the competition and the sample collection process related to the competition.

So Diaz by that definition is good.

However, the UFC-USADA custom tailored anti-doping contract changes the definition of In Competition to include a period of up to 6 hours post bout:
In-Competition means the period commencing six hours prior to the commencement of the scheduled weigh-in and ending six hours after the conclusion of the Bout.

So Diaz was – in fact – out of competition, as the competition was over and the post-fight test was administered. Diaz was out of competition as defined by WADA. Diaz was out of competition as defined by the NSAC which wisely defers to WADA in this regard. Diaz was out of competition as defined by USADA. But the UFC-USADA contract uses a different definition, and by that one, Diaz was in competition, even though he wasn’t.

#4. The “Admitted Use” Clause

Mirko CopCop was given a PED test and immediately confessed that he had taken a small amount of HGH to help heal an injury. The test came back clean, but because the admission of drug use is evidence of drug use under the UFC’s USADA-run, anti-doping policy, CroCop was suspended for two years, retired, and was released from his contract.

So Diaz’s post-fight test came back clean, but he admitted to taking something that is prohibited, which is actionable.

#5. Specified Substance

Cannabis is a “specified substance” under the UFC’s anti-doping policy, which means it is prohibited, but can be treated differently than a performance enhancing drug. Punishment for violating the prohibition against a “specified substance” can range from a suspension of up to one year to a public warning.

The Outcome

USADA has elected to not punish Nate Diaz beyond a public warning. Nate Diaz is an elite professional fighter from the 209. He should be OK.

USADA announced today that UFC athlete Nate Diaz, of Stockton, Calif., has admitted using a prohibited substance during the in-competition period and has accepted a public warning for his policy violation.

Diaz, 31, admitted using the prohibited substance, Cannabidiol, following his bout at UFC 202 on August 20, 2016. Diaz’s use of the Cannabidiol occurred during the in-competition period, which is defined in the UFC Anti-Doping Policy as the period starting six hours prior to the commencement of the scheduled weigh-in and ending six hours after the conclusion of the Bout. Cannabidiol is a specified substance in the class of Cannabinoids and prohibited only in-competition under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

As part of its results management process, USADA gathered information and communicated with the athlete about the circumstances of his use of Cannabidiol on August 20, 2016. USADA concluded that Diaz mistakenly believed that the in-competition period ended after he provided a post-bout sample to USADA. In addition, the in-competition urine and blood samples provided by Diaz before his admitted use were analyzed and reported as negative for all prohibited substances, including Cannabinoids. Based on these circumstances, USADA determined that a public warning was an appropriate response to Diaz’s use of a specified substance during the in-competition period.

For the sake of USADA’s long-term health, they need to consider how heavy handed they appear to be at times. Everyone rational agrees that PEDs are bad for the sport. So PEDs are tested for. But then new rules are added, not for PEDs themselves, but to aid the testing process.

BJ Penn took an IV at the recommendation of a doctor, voluntarily disclosed it, and was pulled from a scheduled fight and suspended. That’s the tail wagging the dog, and bad for the sport.

PEDs are a massive problem in MMA, and have been very nearly since it’s birth in 1993. Fighters who smoke marijuana regularly, under the care of a doctor, is not a masive problem in MMA. USADA should get out of that business, and leave it up to the states. Again, it is the tail wagging the dog. PEDs are a problem, pot isn’t.

Fighters today have little power relative to management, but at some point in future a player’s association will be formed. Like those in football, baseball, etc, the punishment for drug test failures will be a topic of negotiation. If there is a history of arbitrary, capricious, silly punishments, the anti-PED structure could be substantially weakened, as it is for example in the NFL.

Under the union-negotiated NFL drug policy, testing positive for a diuretic or masking agent results in a two-game suspension. Testing positive for an anabolic agent results in a four-game suspension. Under that policy, given that PEDs help performance, it is rational to use them until you get caught more than once.

The UFC has a tremendous anti-drug program, arguably the best in all of sports. But for its long-term health, testing for recreational drugs should be dropped. Further, the focus needs to be on tests failures for PEDs, not failures of second tier processes designed to make catching PED users easier like IV use and a wacky definition of what the word “over” means.