Association of Boxing Commision Considers (WADA) Mj Reform

[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Fight Magnet
Date: May 23, 2013 at 02:52 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/association-of-boxing-commision-considers-wada-mj-reform.54960/

New Threshold Level for Cannabis
May 16, 2013
http://playtrue.wada-ama.org/news/n...utm_campaign=new-threshold-level-for-cannabis
At its May 11 meeting WADA’s Executive Committee decided to increase the threshold level for cannabis following consideration of the many submissions received from stakeholders during the Code review process.
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Accordingly, the Technical Document on
Decision Limits for the Confirmatory Quantification of Threshold Substances
(TD2013DL) has been revised to reflect the applicable modifications affecting compliance decisions for Carboxy-THC.
Version 2.0 of the TD2013DL
is effective as of May 11, 2013, and can be found on
WADA’s Web site
.
All samples received by laboratories post-May 11 will be subject to the new threshold level.
As a matter of fairness and to provide consistency, WADA advises not to pursue cases currently in the results management phase where the reported concentration is less than the new threshold (150 ng/mL).
Also, for any analyses conducted from May 11 onwards, laboratories are requested not to report any THC case result below the acceptable threshold, regardless of the sample receipt date.
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World Anti-Doping Agency Proposes Easing Marijuana Restrictions for Athletes
http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/wor...um=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogmpp+(MPP+Blog)
http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/wor...a-restrictions-for-athletes/05152013/#respond
The
World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) raised the threshold for a positive test for marijuana from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 nanograms per milliliter, significantly reducing the likelihood of detection for athletes who use the drug.
“We wanted to focus on the athletes that abuse the substance in competition,” said Julie Masse, WADA’s director of communications. “This should exclude cases where marijuana is not used in competition.”
Although marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing drug, WADA included it on its initial list of prohibited substances in 2003 after caving in to pressure from U.S. sports officials.
“From a sports perspective, I was rather ambivalent (toward marijuana),” stated Richard Pound, an attorney who was WADA’s initial chief and still serves on the Foundation Board. “As we morphed into WADA, the USA was very keen to have it included.”
Although marijuana thresholds and testing are vague indicatives rather than precise measurements of use, WADA hopes that the new limit will lessen the chance that responsible recreational users will suffer disciplinary action. In recent years,
a number of athletes
, some of them legitimate medical marijuana patients, have
faced suspensions and huge fines
failing post-competition marijuana tests.
“There is no desire to go soft on the list,” WADA’s Athlete Committee announced, “but members want cheaters to be caught for cheating, not for recreational usage.”
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ABC Medical Committee to Discuss WADA’s Increased Marijuana Threshold
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/AB...uss-WADAs-Increased-Marijuana-Threshold-52659
The Association of Boxing Commissions will soon examine and consider the World Anti-Doping Agency’s new marijuana threshold
.
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The ABC’s medical committee will convene for a teleconference on May 28, during which the regulatory body will discuss, among other topics, WADA’s new stance on cannabis. According to Dr. Sherry Wulkan, the ABC’s medical chair, the committee will draft a policy statement to be presented to the ABC during the group’s annual conference this August in Texas.
“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,” Wulkan told Sherdog.com. “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.”
WADA officials
recently announced
that the marijuana testing threshold will be raised from 15 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, lowering the chances that an athlete will be flagged for out-of-competition use.
“All samples received by laboratories post May 11 will be subject to the new threshold level,” WADA officials wrote in a news release. “As a matter of fairness and to provide consistency, WADA advises not to pursue cases currently in the results management phase where the reported concentration is less than the new threshold (150 ng/mL). Also, for any analyses conducted from May 11 onwards, laboratories are requested not to report any THC case result below the acceptable threshold, regardless of the sample receipt date.”
Meanwhile, the NCAA has cracked down on its marijuana testing, lowering the threshold from 15 ng/mL to 5 ng/mL as of Aug. 1. While the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport also decided that the penalty for testing positive for cannabis should be decreased from a full-season to a half-season suspension, that amendment will not take effect until August 2014 at the earliest, according to NCAA.org.
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[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Fight Magnet
Date: May 31, 2013 at 04:14 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/association-of-boxing-commision-considers-wada-mj-reform.54960/

UFC Raises Testing Threshold For Marijuana, NSAC Panel Considers Similar Move
by John Morgan on May 31, 2013 at 3:30 pm ET
​
LAS VEGAS – In standing true to their stance on the regulation of cannabis use in the sport, UFC officials have decided to raise the testing threshold for marijuana metabolites from 50 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL – a mark the World Anti-Doping Agency also recently deemed sufficient.
UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner revealed the company's decision during today's meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission's Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel, which took place in Las Vegas.
"When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150," Ratner said. "So we're starting that immediately."
The UFC often acts as its own regulating body when competing in foreign territories lacking an official sanctioning organization. Such was the case at March's UFC on FUEL TV 8 in Japan, where
Alex Caceres
tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his decision win over
Kyung Ho Kang
.
Ratner told
MMAjunkie.com
(
www.mmajunkie.com
) the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission – or Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – which regulates UFC events in Brazil, has also agreed to the same standard and will make the change at next week's UFC on FUEL TV 10 event in Fortaleza. Brazilian commission officials later confirmed their decision.
The goal of the change is to make a more concerted effort to catch marijuana users who are competing under the influence of marijuana rather than those who have taken the drug in the days or even weeks before a fight and are left with the metabolite in their system.
WADA recently made the same change to their code, suggesting that "the change to the threshold will mean that athletes using the substance in-competition will be detected" rather than athletes who use marijuana in an out-of-competition setting, when the drug is not deemed a prohibited substance.
Prior to Ratner's remarks, the NSAC Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel spent 40 minutes discussing its position on marijuana use in the sport. While the committee has yet to develop an official recommendation for the NSAC to consider, preliminary talks seem to indicate the group intends to also suggest raising the commission's testing threshold to 150 ng/mL.
"It could be 10 years from now when the commission will say it's not the right number, or two years from now, because I can easily see where that would change," panel member Dr. James Nave said. "Maybe it's 400. ... It's a different ballgame now. Society is different and everything is different."
The state of Nevada, which in 2000 approved the possession and usage of medical marijuana, is currently considering a law that would provide patients with a legal method of purchasing their medicine by explicitly legalizing dispensaries throughout the state. It's just one further sign of a rapidly changing stance on marijuana use throughout the U.S.
Ratner, who stood before the NSAC's panel in March to
encourage it to take a softer stance against marijuana
, today applauded the progress that has already been made.
"I want to commend the committee," Ratner said. "This goes along with the UFC's thinking, as well as my own, that we're moving progressively to the future, and times are changing."
The NSAC's Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel also discussed potential suggestions for revisions to the commission's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, including testosterone and steroids. The committee is expected to draft an official recommendation in the next few weeks in hopes of bringing those to the full commission in July.
Among the changes being considered are lowering the acceptable level of an athlete's testosterone-to-epitestosterone levels from 6-to-1 to 4-to-1, the addition of testing for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), recommendations to require a hematologic passport (or hematocrit) and the requirement for out-of-competition tests to include both urine and blood samples.
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[Nastycrow]

Originally posted by: Fight Magnet
Date: June 04, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/association-of-boxing-commision-considers-wada-mj-reform.54960/

USA TODAY: Commissioners express support for less-stringent marijuana testing
by Steven Marrocco on Jun 04, 2013 at 8:30 am ET​
(This story appeared in today's edition of
USA TODAY
.)
A meeting of state athletic commissions next month could determine whether combat sports regulators adopt the World Anti- Doping Agency's more relaxed rules regarding testing for marijuana. That, in turn, could be good news for some MMA fighters.
The Association of Boxing Commissions' medical committee will then make a recommendation on whether to follow WADA's marijuana threshold, which was raised from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 ng/ mL in an athlete's urine.
Several commissioners have indicated their support for the change, which could reduce the number of fighters who are suspended and fined for pot. At least seven UFC fighters have tested positive for marijuana since 2012. The conference takes place in late July in San Antonio.
"I leave medical decisions to medical personnel," Nick Lembo, chairman of the ABC's MMA rules committee and also a chief regulator in New Jersey's athletic commission, told USA TODAY Sports and
MMAjunkie.com
(
www.mmajunkie.com
). "
But my personal feeling is that I would much rather focus on obvious performance-enhancing drug use like steroids and blood doping.
"If I was a trainer, I would much rather have my fighter fighting someone who took marijuana than someone who's blood doping."
The ABC's medical committee, represented by more than 50 doctors around the country, met Wednesday to discuss WADA's change. The UFC recently adopted WADA's threshold for international events it self-regulates. The fight promotion's vice president of regulatory affairs, Marc Ratner, is the former head of the Nevada commission and an advocate of lesser penalties for marijuana infractions.
The committee also discussed whether therapeutic-use exemptions should be given to medical cannabis users. In 2012, now-retired UFC welterweight
Nick Diaz
unsuccessfully challenged a postfight suspension issued by Nevada on the basis that he used the drug outside of competition and with a doctor's approval.
Marijuana is a polarizing issue in the sport, with many fighters saying the drug is widely used.
UFC fighter
Pat Healy
tested positive for marijuana at UFC 159 in April, and it cost him $130,000 in bonuses. He said he last used the drug a month before his fight.
Ohio commissioner Bernie Profato is a former police officer who remembers a day on the job in which a mother tested positive for pot after a car crash that killed her 7-year-old child. He said he always would be opposed to the drug but would enforce whatever regulations were in place.
It might not take long for regulatory change. But the ABC's president, Tim Lueckenhoff, sees red tape ahead despite his belief that athletic commissions will fall in step with WADA.
"
What it really comes down to is what the regulations in the various states say," said Lueckenhoff, who also heads Missouri's commission. "If it says they go with the WADA guidelines, then it's fine. If they have an individual rule that says what the threshold is, then all those commissions have to go through a rule-making process to change that, which unfortunately in state government takes time
".
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