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The UFC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency have announced a significant change to the UFC’s anti-doping program.
The updated rules effective January 1 will no longer punish athletes who test positive for marijuana, especially THC (11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the drug’s main psychoactive ingredient.
Previously, athletes were only tested for marijuana in competition around a fight, but there were thresholds in place and a positive test above that limit resulted in a doping violation. Now, under the new rules, fighters will no longer be punished for testing positive for marijuana unless “other evidence shows that the substance was taken for performance enhancing purposes.”
“It’s really, like everything we do with this program, it’s science-based,” Jeff Novitzky, UFC senior vice president for athlete health and performance, told MMA Fighting. . “Especially in the era of the pandemic, we had all these issues with fighters and we fought at the last minute and then we ended up with positive results from competing marijuana and we are still following those – ‘when did you use it?’ It has always been the case that the use was made a few days, or even weeks, of the fight.
“I’ve always been interested in this and pushed for some of these changes, but it definitely sped up our review. I think the main element that guided this decision was a report that the Department of Transportation prepared for Congress a few years ago.
A report submitted to Congress in 2017 titled “Marijuana Impaired Driving” sought to explore how law enforcement officers should treat drivers who could be arrested under the influence of marijuana.
Perhaps the most important finding in the report was that unlike blood alcohol levels, which could more easily determine a driver’s impairment, there was no fixed number that could show the same for marijuana. – “unlike the situation with alcohol, someone may show little or no deficiency at a level of THC at which someone else may show a higher degree of deficiency.”
“What science shows, there are so many variables with your urine or your blood THC level that there really is no scientific correlation between that number and the deficiency,” Novitzky explained. “It’s really the only thing that matters to us in the fight from an anti-doping point of view, it is the impairment.”
Previously, the UFC had a threshold set at 180 ng / ML and testing positive above this limit in competition was a doping violation. As the Department of Transportation report showed, there was actually no standard limit that could prove that a person was impaired due to the use of marijuana.
Now the UFC is updating its anti-doping program rules to reflect a more modern approach to treating athletes who use marijuana.
“There is simply no science to support that any number correlates with impairment,” Novitzky said. “This is why we have found it necessary to add this additional component in the determining factor” Is there real evidence of depreciation? ” I think it’s gonna be really good.
USADA officials echoed those same thoughts about program updates after conducting additional research regarding marijuana use in athletes.
“As you may recall from last year, we identified a category of ‘substance abuse’ that included cannabinoids and continued to research the causes of the positive tests and the benefits for improvement. performance, ”Ryan Carpenter, senior manager of USADA UFC and Premier Sport, told MMA. Combat.
“In a significant number of cases involving cannabinoids, we have found that the presence of THC was residual and provided no performance improvement benefit or degradation to the levels found.”
Regarding cases where a fighter could still be punished for marijuana when using it as a performance enhancing substance, Novitzky gave an example of how this could potentially come into play.
“It is inherent that improved performance would mean that you are weakened under marijuana,” Novitzky said. “That you are under the influence. So we make the leap that if you are under the influence, there are benefits to improving performance.
“The scenarios I could think of would be a fighter showing up on fight night in the locker room, they have bloodshot eyes, they smell of marijuana, they mock or a distant gaze. There is some evidence that they recently used marijuana, I think it could be considered a performance enhancing factor because they are actively weakened in a fight.
A major caveat about the UFC’s updated anti-doping program is that athletes will still be tested by various sports commissions around the world, which means they could still be punished for a positive marijuana test.
For example, the Nevada State Athletic Commission continues to vigorously test and punish athletes who exceed the threshold limit in competition when competing in the state. A number of UFC athletes have faced suspensions and fines over the past year as a result of testing positive for marijuana.
Novitzky warns athletes to understand that these updates to the UFC anti-doping program are only related to USADA, which means that a state athletic commission could still punish them for marijuana.
“We’re really excited about it, but we have to temper that excitement a bit because I don’t want the message to go to our fighters that it’s free now,” Novitzky said. “Because they still have to deal with sports commissions.
“We’re going to be fighting in Nevada most of this year and they still have the 150 nanogram threshold.”
Of course, this allows the UFC to work with those same sporting commissions in the hopes that updates to the USADA-run anti-doping program could help educate and potentially facilitate changes to those rule sets.
“This is the next fad we get into after announcing these changes,” Novitzky revealed. “In fact, we have already started with sports commissions. Share this science with them. I had a great call with [executive director] Andy Foster from California a few hours ago let him know what we were doing, here is why we are doing it. He showed great interest.
“They are already one of the most progressive commissions on how they handle marijuana. I think they are fine like $ 100 for a positive marijuana test. They don’t sanction. They do not negate wins. So he was really interested and I think excited about what we’re doing.
Novitzky has been at the forefront of researching changes to marijuana and UFC anti-doping policy, as organizations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continue to explore updates. possible from the list of prohibited substances as well as the suggested thresholds. for some drugs.
Considering the number of pharmaceutical grade drugs that athletes can now use at any time, Novitzky can’t help but sympathize with fighters who would rather use something like marijuana instead.
“When I get these calls within weeks of a fight, fighters who use marijuana say, ‘Jeff, when do I stop to make sure I’m below level?’ Said Novitzky. “Some of these stories include, ‘I choose to use marijuana instead of opioids for pain management, instead of Xanax to control my anxiety, instead of Ambien so I can sleep because I am so nervous before a fight. ‘It bothered me a lot that the anti-doping rules really steer these fighters into more dangerous drugs the closer they got to the fight.
“Because things like certain opioids, Xanax and Ambien are allowed at all times. They are not prohibited. I felt horrible passing this information on to fighters saying, ‘Stop using marijuana, but you are good to take Xanax, Ambien, and Vicodin before a fight’. This is not true. Granted, I don’t think there is an argument that even though we prefer our fighters not to use drugs, on the danger scale, on the addiction scale, marijuana is much lower. on the list only things like opioids, Xanax, Ambien.
With the new policy reducing the possibility of fighters being punished for marijuana, Novitzky hopes this will be seen as further proof that the UFC wants clean sport, but also that the promotion is willing to make the necessary changes to s ‘ensure that athletes are treated fairly. while following the science related to certain substances.
“We’ve been saying that from the start and it’s my main role, to be that liaison between the athlete and USADA,” Novitzky said. “We always make sure that in addition to being a real complete and flawless program, it is fair, that it has due process. If you look, this is the third review we’ve made to the policy, and almost all of the changes we’ve made have been for athlete fairness.
“It’s something I’ll do as long as I’m here. Make sure I am the athlete’s eyes and ears for the fairness of this program. As soon as I see something that I don’t think is right or that the science does not support, we are going to act very quickly and change that. I think this is a great example of that.
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