UFC President Dana White has been trying to loosen marijuana regulations regarding the UFC for quite some time now. Little by little, athletic commissions have begun to be more lenient when it comes to marijuana. Now, the Florida athletic commission has dropped marijuana from its prohibited list.
Weed Punishment History
Due to the rules, there have been countless UFC fighters to have been affected by testing positive for marijuana. However, it was not banned outside of competition, but against the rules in the competition has led to several suspensions.
Fighters such as Niko Price have been suspended and fined numerous times due to the rule. As well as Trevin Jones, Luis Pena, and Kelvin Gastelum have all been suspended due to the violation. Meanwhile, many fighters use the drug for medicinal purposes.
“This anti-doping was supposed to be put in place for the protection and health and safety of the athletes,” he said. “It’s actually, if you look at it, pushing athletes to more dangerous, more addictive drugs. That’s the biggest problem I see with that. I can almost guarantee you (that happens) because I’ve had these conversations with some of our athletes when I tell them that marijuana needs to be discontinued a few weeks out from the fight.”
According to a poll conducted by The Athletic that surveyed 170 fighters, nearly half — or 49.5 percent — revealed they use marijuana for recovery or recreational purposes. In addition, 4.6 percent used marijuana in the past but don’t anymore, while 76.5 percent of fighters also revealed they had used cannabidiol (CBD).
Florida Removes Marijuana Ban
UFC Drug official Jeff Novitzky shared news of the commission’s decision and was in complete agreeance with the policy.
Right move by FL Commission. They took a close look at the science behind THC excretion and saw it has little to no correlation to being impaired. Hopefully other commissions will follow FL’s lead and the recommendation of ABC Medical Committee. https://t.co/TKneEfN9Rt
— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) May 4, 2021
“Per Jeff Novitzky, Florida has just removed marijuana from its Prohibited list. Good decision I hope is adopted elsewhere,” reported Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
“Right move by FL Commission. They took a close look at the science behind THC excretion and saw it has little to no correlation to being impaired. Hopefully other commissions will follow FL’s lead and the recommendation of ABC Medical Committee,” replied Novitzky.
Will more commissions follow suit and uplift the ban of marijuana? Furthermore, will anything happen to those who the rule has suspended in the past?
