Social attitudes towards marijuana use are rapidly changing in the USA, with a large number of state decriminalizing and even legalizing it. The allowable limit set by most state athletic commissions used to be 50 ng/mL. Some ACs have moved the level to 150 ng/mL, bringing it in keeping with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards.
However, WADA added marijuana to the list of prohibited substances in 2003, after being pressured to do so by the USA.
From a sports perspective, I was rather ambivalent (toward marijuana), stated Richard Pound, an attorney who was WADA’s initial head and continues to serve on the Foundation Board. As we morphed into WADA, the USA was very keen to have it included.
That was in 2003, and the US attitude has changed radically since, but the prohibition remains. And the consequences for failing a marijuana test can be severe. The Nevada Athletic Commission for example tried to ban Nick Diaz for life.
During the pre UFC 195 pre weigh-in fan Q&A, Mike Chiesa and Rose Namajunas called for marijuana to be removed from the banned list.
Take marijuana off the banned list, said Chiesa, as transcribed by MMAjunkie. I know a lot of people who actually use marijuana for medical purposes. I know fighters that have legitimate issues – not a lot of people want to put medicines in their body that are built in a science laboratory, but there’s a plant out there that grows naturally that can help guys with ADD and certain other things.
You can have a 6-to-1 (testosterone-to-epitestosterone) ratio in Nevada – which is pretty tough to do naturally. But you can’t smoke pot. It’s medicine. Times have changed. You can drink before a fight. You can get drunk, but you can’t have pot in your system? That doesn’t make sense to me.
Back in 2012 UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole that if he tested randomly for marijuana, 80% of fighters of fighters would probably fail. When the UFC instituted random, comprehensive, out of competition testing for Performance Enhancing Drugs for all the fighters on the roster, marijuana was pointedly left off.
The simple fact is that marijuana is a natural and safe substance, that people enjoy taking.
Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man on land. Michael Phelps is the world’s fastest man in water. Both enjoy the recreational use of marijuana. Between them, they hold 28 Olympic medals.
In time, sport regulators will stop testing for marijuana. This is true in all sports, not just combat sports. The sooner the better.
