Nevada’s Movement Towards the Amendment of Penalties for MMA and Boxing Fighters for Marijuana Use
There may soon be a reprieve for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and boxing fighters in Nevada regarding penalties for marijuana use. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), has been progressively working towards halting the penalization of these athletes for cannabis consumption.
NSAC had previously presented a proposal to amend regulatory rules to the governor in the last year. However, there was a necessity for additional protocol to confirm this policy officially, whereby it was forwarded to the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB) for review in May.
Refinement and Affirmation of the Regulatory Amendment
After careful examination, the LCB sent back the modified draft proposal to NSAC, having primarily improved its technical and formatting aspects. The LCB’s responsibility is to standardize this regulation into an unchanging format. Once the legal precision was validated, they redistributed the draft to NSAC.
For the next couple of years, NSAC has the responsibility of conducting a hearing to establish the ultimate language of the amendment. Following this, the final amendment is sent back to LCB for another round of legal proficiency review. Finally, it’s forwarded to the Legislative Commission, consisting of an equal number of Senate and Assembly members, for formal approval and enactment.
Despite the pending steps, NSAC has already unofficially implemented this policy under the state statute, commencing from 2021. The authority has been proactively dismissing penalties for professional fighters detected with THC traces.
Trending Towards a Cannabis Exemption
The finished regulations would retain the assertion that the commission upholds the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) outline of forbidden substances for athletes, which includes cannabis. Notwithstanding, there has been a proposed regulatory addition aspiring to carve out an exception for Nevada fighters regarding cannabis.
This specific provision indicates that “the ownership, usage, or ingestion of cannabis or cannabis-infused products will not be identified as an anti-doping violation.” This exemption is comprehensive and applies regardless of the location of the activity, a broader safety provision than the earlier rule, requiring such use to be permissible under Nevada state laws specifically.
Commenting on the policy amendment, Tygardt highlighted the importance of transparency about the non-enhancing characteristics of marijuana, stating, “We’re not in the business of regulating recreational drugs. Our mission is to combat sporting fraud and cheating.”