Nevada combat athletes will no longer be sanctioned for positive marijuana tests

The policy on the use of marijuana in combat sports has gradually become more flexible in the United States, as is the case in Nevada, where sports regulators voted to eliminate penalties for boxers and MMA fighters who test positive for marijuana.

That’s right, the Nevada Athletic Commission, the body in charge of regulating combat sports, agreed to enact a change in its anti-doping policy and eliminate the threat of suspension for the use or possession of cannabis for fighters. However, athletes will still be banned from competing in events if they are visibly intoxicated.

Drug testing will continue for six months, but the data will remain confidential to the agency. After that period, they will evaluate whether anti-doping will continue to be conducted or will end this type of testing.

“We should always be at the forefront with these kinds of issues,” Commission Chairman Stephen J. Cloobeck said during a meeting in Las Vegas. “I think it’s warranted and deserved since it’s been legal in this state. We had to leap forward to be able to be leaders as we have always been,” the executive also added.

This decision comes during the controversial suspension of sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson from participating in the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for THC, one of the chemicals in marijuana.