Cannabis No Longer Banned Substance
The World Anti-Doping Agency Makes Progressive Step Removing Cannabis from Banned Substances List.
On Friday the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that the agency will officially remove the substance cannabidiol, an endogenous cannabis compound with significant medical benefits, from its banned substances list starting in early 2018.
In current MMA, all substances containing cannibidiol are banned during the in-competition window by WADA and the UFC’s athlete drug-testing partner, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The new regulations will only lift the ban on the cannibidiol compound, the psychoactive compound of THC also found in cannabis remains a banned substance.
The WADA announcement comes as welcome and timely news in the sport of MMA, in which according to UFC President Dana nearly 90% of fighters under UFC contract use cannabis. Furthermore, the lifted prohibition on cannibidiol acts as a harbinger of the changing attitude regarding one of the most widely uses substances in all of combat sports.
For years the world of MMA has held a strong pro-cannabis voice in the world of sports at the highest level. Long-time UFC commentator and lifetime martial artist Joe Rogan has vocally come out in support of cannabis use as has two-time World MMA Awards Referee of the Year winner and former police officer ‘Big’ John McCarthy. However, when it came to the actual athletes establishing a voice for the use of cannabis all efforts have been met with heavy resistance from government anti-doping and sports media.
Perhaps it is the notoriety of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and their highly visible use in MMA that magnifies the sensitivity about the stoner martial artist. From a purist perspective, MMA is a sport and art form advanced by unarmed daily combat which consequently has an extreme risk of (serious) injury. The act of getting high and engaging in combat may seem counterintuitive to some, but in truth combat sport fighters engage in the most primal state of being - fighting for survival - and have preached the therapeutic benefits of cannabis for all aspects of training and competing.
Mixed martial arts is not a sport for everyone. The training is exhaustingly brutal, mentally and physically demanding, and quite literally breaks down the body on a daily basis. The backbone of MMA’s pro-cannabis argument lies within the compound’s healing and recovery properties - both mental and physical. In terms of recovery for elite fighters, cannabis may be used for post-fight healing, during bouts of heavy training in fight camp, the oftentimes brutal arena of dieting and weight-cutting, extensive travel, and public speaking obligations. Known for its beneficial properties of reducing physical and medical tension, anxiety, and pain, cannibidiol has been a welcome and necessary recovery tool for world’s elite combat sports athletes.
The most visible and vocal MMA athlete speaking about the benefits of cannabis use has been UFC lightweight fighter Nate Diaz. Diaz, a native of the cannabis-progressive region of Northern California, was most recently seen using a vape pen - an inhalent containing cannibidiol - following a massive fight at UFC 202 against superstar Conor McGregor. Visibly damaged after a five round bloody battle, Diaz began puffing on the pen at the post-fight press conference and was immediately questioned by the MMA media.
“It's CBD," Diaz said. “It helps with the healing process and inflammation, stuff like that. So you want to get these for before and after the fights, training. It'll make your life a better place.”
The proud public use of therapeutic CBD from Diaz gratifying for purists. Diaz, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from legendary master Cesar Gracie, has thousands of hours of martial training, has fought at the highest level of MMA for over a decade, is a known vegan and fitness enthusiast, and supports cannabis in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. He is also loyal to his brother Nick––who is serving a five year suspension from the sport for in-competition cannabis use. The belief of Nate Diaz is firm, "You do steroids, I’ll smoke marijuana, and we can fight.”
Following the press conference Diaz was only served with a public warning from USADA given that the use of the vape pen containing cannibidiol fell within the prohibited six hour post-fight in-competition window regulations.The warning came as victory for cannabis defenders as it brought about a new conversation regarding CBD, cannabis, and its use in elite level combat sports.
Beginning January 1st athletes and fighters will finally be able to use cannibidiol at their own discretion, free from consequence. In a generation marred with the prescription drug abuse, perhaps attitudes are finally changing about what we as athletes and humans can do to ease mental and physical pain.