The Nevada Athletic Commission amended its rules and it will no longer punish athletes for marijuana use.
The only exception is if an athlete shows up impaired on fight night.
“I think our goal is to test for performance-enhancing drugs to ensure a level playing field,” said NAC Executive Director Bob Bennett. “The fact that it is not a performance-enhancing drug, I do not believe we should test for it any longer.” The World Anti-Doping Agency designates marijuana as a substance of abuse, not a performance-enhancing.
The news came with much relief to many as fighters have been penalized for marijuana use despite lobbying that its affect are mainly for pain relief and in no way performance enhancing.
Payout Perspective:
The move to mitigate penalties from an athlete’s marijuana use coincided with the overturning of Mike Jackson’s victory against CM Punk several years ago. Also recently, U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended by USADA due to marijuana use. The suspension will keep the country’s best women’s sprinter out of the Olympics. With the legalization of marijuana across the nation, the stigma of its use and affects have changed. In a sport where pain is anticipated, any relief from it can help with the athlete. We will see if other commission’s follow suit.
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