In 2021, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took steps to shield professional fighters from penalties related to THC-positive test results. Now, the organization has gone one step further and officially removed cannabis from its revised list of prohibited substances for athletes. This historic update builds upon prior reforms within the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a central part of UFC\u2019s expanded efforts to protect the health and safety of its athletes, and also to protect their right to compete on a level playing field. UFC\u2019s goal for this Policy is to be the best anti-doping program in all of professional sport,\u201d says a statement on the UFC\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the UFC\u2019s prohibited substance list aligns with the framework established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which has faced controversy for maintaining cannabis as a banned substance, the UFC is making adjustments \u201cin light of historical findings (specifically, the removal of marijuana from the prohibited list).\u201d<\/p>\n In a press release<\/a>, Hunter Campbell, UFC Chief Business Officer, says that the sport\u2019s goal is to be the best, most effective, and most progressive anti-doping program in all of professional sports.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUFC is proud of the advancements we\u2019ve made with our anti-doping program over the past eight years, and we\u2019ll continue to maintain an independently administered drug-testing program that ensures all UFC athletes are competing under fair and equal circumstances,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cWith this new iteration of the program, UFC has once again raised the bar for health and safety in combat sports.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Novitzky, UFC Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, says that the program is the \u201cresult of our continued efforts to protect the athletes who compete in the Octagon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis new program is the result of years of input and trial and error taken by UFC, our athletes, and third parties who have assisted UFC in operating the program,\u201d Novitzky said. \u201cThe anti-doping policy is a living and breathing document that will continue to evolve and adapt when clear science supports changes that can further protect UFC athletes who compete in UFC.\u201d<\/p>\n The UFC\u2019s revamped Anti-Doping Policy has several key changes:<\/p>\n Sample Collection Conducted by Drug Free Sport International<\/strong><\/p>\n From December 31, Drug Free Sport International (DFSI), a global leader in anti-doping, will conduct unannounced sample collections worldwide. This will provide greater global coverage compared to the previous program. These collections will be carried out 24\/7, 365 days a year. However, DFSI will solely handle sample collection and won\u2019t have the authority to enforce violations.<\/p>\n Sample Analysis Performed by Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory<\/strong><\/p>\n Samples will be analyzed at the prestigious Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Utah. SMRTL is widely regarded as one of the world\u2019s top anti-doping testing facilities. Dr. Daniel Eichner, a renowned anti-doping scientist, will serve as the Science Advisor for the program. SMRTL will also conduct a significant number of \u201cspecial analysis\u201d tests to detect prohibited substances.<\/p>\n Administration and Sanctioning Overseen Independently by CSAD\/George Piro<\/strong><\/p>\n The administration of the UFC Anti-Doping Program, including decisions on sanctions, will be independently managed by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), led by George Piro. Piro brings more than three decades of law enforcement experience, including with the FBI. CSAD will make all decisions independently, including issuing suspensions and addressing violations. A dedicated tip-line (tipline@csad.org) is available for reporting drug use and abuse within UFC.<\/p>\n Comprehensive List of Prohibited Substances<\/strong><\/p>\n The \u201cProhibited List\u201d will largely follow the guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with some modifications based on historical findings. Notably, marijuana has been removed from the prohibited list. The program will establish Decision Concentration Limits to distinguish between intentional and unintentional substance use.<\/p>\n New User-Friendly Digital Whereabouts Platform<\/strong><\/p>\n UFC athletes will gain access to a new UFC Whereabouts Platform for updating their expected locations for testing. This user-friendly platform allows quick updates as circumstances change over time.<\/p>\n The UFC\u2019s decision echoes that of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which removed cannabis from its list of banned substances in April 2023<\/a>, following the lead of other top professional sports leagues, including Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL).<\/p>\n The post Breaking: UFC Officially Removes Cannabis from List of Banned Substances<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took steps to shield professional fighters from penalties related to THC-positive test results. Now, the organization has gone one step further and officially removed cannabis from its revised list of prohibited substances for athletes. This historic update builds upon prior reforms within theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17261,50,1903,281,90,65,3537,7254,658,10055,10056],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71531"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71532,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71531\/revisions\/71532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Revisions to the New Policy<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Breaking: UFC Officially Removes Cannabis from List of Banned Substances<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"