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ABU DHABI – The UFC anti-doping policy will no longer punish athletes for testing positive for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
UFC and US Anti-Doping Agency officials on Thursday announced major changes “in the handling of cannabis and its natural cannabinoid compounds.”
In short, positive tests for carboxy-THC at any level will no longer be considered violations of the policy “unless further evidence exists that an athlete has intentionally used it for the purpose of performance improvement.”
“While we wanted to continue to prevent athletes from competing under the influence of marijuana, we have learned that blood and / or urine levels of carboxy-THC have little or no scientific correlation with impairment,” Vice- UFC senior president for athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky said in a statement. “THC is fat soluble, which means that once ingested, it is stored in fatty tissues and organs of the body and can be released into the blood or urine, sometimes long after ingestion.”
Novitzky said athletes will still not be allowed to compete under the influence of marijuana, but the UFC and USADA will rely on visual evidence of impairment and cognitive-behavioral testing to make such determinations. rather than on any sort of blood level detection, which can often indicate use well outside the competition window.
“The bottom line is that when it comes to marijuana, we care about what an athlete consumes on the day of a fight, not the days or weeks before a fight, which has often been the case in our historical positive THC cases, ”Novitzky said.
Novitzky said he believed the policy change was simply the latest in the promotion to maintain thorough anti-doping guidelines while preserving a sense of fairness for athletes who must abide by the policy, which was first instituted in 2015.
“Based on my informal discussion with athletes, there is a significant percentage of athletes who choose to use marijuana, many for legitimate reasons outside of recreation,” Novitzky said. “Many use it for pain control, anti-anxiety, for sleeping, instead of more dangerous and addictive drugs, so hopefully this is the first step to opening that up so that an athlete on Wednesday night of the fight week instead of going to Vicodin because their knee hurts and they can’t sleep can use some cannabis and fall asleep and control the pain. It has no effect on a Saturday night competition, so it’s the right decision, and I’m really excited about this specific policy review and change.
Importantly, the USADA policy change does not directly affect state athletic commission regulations, so athletes do not have a free hand with marijuana use after the announcement. However, Novitzky is optimistic that the UFC policy change can ultimately pave the way for similar moves at the state level.
“I would advise everyone to temper their enthusiasm about this because we still have the commission factor here, but we’re actively working on it,” Novitzky told MMA Junkie. “We educate them, inform them, lobby them, and hopefully not too far in the near future that we can achieve uniformity in all the rules when it comes to marijuana because I think that would definitely be an advantage. for athletes.
Additional changes announced in the UFC’s anti-doping policy include the removal of ‘phyto’ cannabinoids often found in various CBD products, as well as the addition of Informed Choice as an approved dietary supplement certifier for athletes from the UFC. UFC.
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