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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
With Pat Healy's recent drug test failure and suspension out of UFC 159, the debate over marijuana and MMA has been highlighted once again. One of the biggest problems with marijuana being drug tested for and punished is the fact that it's not a banned substance out of competition. Marijuana is considered a banned substance on fight night, much like it would be against the rules for a fighter to show up drunk on fight night, but the level in which its tested at is catching individuals who have used days, weeks, or even months before competition.
The current testing protocol flags a test sample if it recognizes metabolites from marijuana at 15 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). That level of the metabolite can stay in the system for a lengthy amount of time depending on an individual's usage history, as well as their body composition.
But a fighter testing positive at 20 ng/mL isn't someone who will have been impaired during the fight. There's no traces of the actual intoxicating compound of marijuana, THC, with the metabolites at that level, meaning again that those testing positive are not under its influence during the actual competition.
Because of that, the current punishments - including suspensions, the overturning of fight results, fines, and loss of discretionary income - all seem to be excessive considering those testing positive weren't high at the time of the fight.
However, a change in the testing standards from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) may bring about a change from the Association of Boxing Commissions, which sets the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and influences commission testing around the U.S. Earlier this month, WADA moved the threshold for a positive test for marijuana from 15ng/mL to 150ng/mL. As an example of how that would change things for MMA, Nick Diaz's second positive test in Nevada at UFC 143 - which kept him out a year and fined him nearly $80,000 - had his metabolite levels at 50ng/mL, just a third of the level which will now constitute a positive test under WADA's new standards.
According to a report from Sherdog.com, the ABC's medical committee will have a teleconference on May 28 to discuss WADA's new standards, and will put together a statement for their own policy to present to the ABC during their annual meeting this August.
"In combat sports, marijuana may be used for purposes of elevating pain threshold. There is also a concern as to whether reaction time may be altered with use,” said Dr. Sherry Wulkan, the ABC's medical chair. “Therefore, at present, the 15ng/mL rule still applies. Whether [therapeutic use exemptions] should be granted for medicinal purposes will be one of the topics for discussion next week.”
Penick's Analysis: Based on Wulkan's comments, the ABC medical board isn't likely to adopt the 150ng/mL threshold entirely, but they may raise from the 15ng/mL it sits at right now. That said, if they put into place a therapeutic use exemption, fighters like Nick Diaz and Matt Riddle - who are legally allowed to use marijuana in their home states - could in turn be exempted for their use. The standards used by the UFC around the world and commissions in the U.S. should be adjusted, because so long as a fighter isn't competing high there shouldn't be an issue; and the levels at which fighters are getting flagged doesn't suggest fight day use. Still, until such time as the rules are changed, fighters need to abide by what's in place, and need to know in kind that any drug test failure for marijuana will be punished under the current system.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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