The article is about raising the acceptable level of marijuana, LOWERING the acceptable level of testosterone, and a recommendation for hCG and Hematocrit testing.
Morning Report: UFC raises marijuana testing threshold, NSAC considers stricter testosterone regulations - MMA Fighting
Morning Report: UFC raises marijuana testing threshold, NSAC considers stricter testosterone regulations
Dave Herman, Thiago Silva, Matt Riddle, Alex Caceres, and most recently, Pat Healy; the list of UFC fighters to vacate wins off their record, forfeit money from their fight purse, and lose precious time on suspension seemingly grows longer after every event, solely because of positive tests for marijuana. It's a broken system, but fortunately it's one the UFC is taking steps to repair.
Effective last Friday, UFC officials raised the testing threshold for marijuana metabolites from 50 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, following in the footsteps of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150," said UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner. "So we're starting that immediately."
The decision, revealed by Ratner and first reported by MMA Junkie, will take effect for all UFC regulated international events, including events held in Brazil, and is intended to lighten the previously restrictive protocols that were just as likely to catch fighters entering the ring high as much as those who used marijuana weeks before a fight.
Likewise, "preliminary talks seem to indicate" a recommendation will be sent for the Nevada State Athletic Commission to consider raising its own testing threshold from 50 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, as discussed by the NSAC Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel.
"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," said panel member Dr. James Nave. "Maybe it's 400. ... It's a different ballgame now. Society is different and everything is different."
In addition, the Panel deliberated over several proposals to revise the NSAC's policy on testing for performance enhancing drugs, including considerations to lower the legal testosterone-to-epitestosterone level from 6:1 to 4:1, as well as "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."
According to the report, an official proposal is expected to be drafted within the next few weeks and introduced to the NSAC in July.
"I want to commend the committee," Ratner said in closing. "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."
Morning Report: UFC raises marijuana testing threshold, NSAC considers stricter testosterone regulations - MMA Fighting
Morning Report: UFC raises marijuana testing threshold, NSAC considers stricter testosterone regulations
Dave Herman, Thiago Silva, Matt Riddle, Alex Caceres, and most recently, Pat Healy; the list of UFC fighters to vacate wins off their record, forfeit money from their fight purse, and lose precious time on suspension seemingly grows longer after every event, solely because of positive tests for marijuana. It's a broken system, but fortunately it's one the UFC is taking steps to repair.
Effective last Friday, UFC officials raised the testing threshold for marijuana metabolites from 50 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, following in the footsteps of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150," said UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner. "So we're starting that immediately."
The decision, revealed by Ratner and first reported by MMA Junkie, will take effect for all UFC regulated international events, including events held in Brazil, and is intended to lighten the previously restrictive protocols that were just as likely to catch fighters entering the ring high as much as those who used marijuana weeks before a fight.
Likewise, "preliminary talks seem to indicate" a recommendation will be sent for the Nevada State Athletic Commission to consider raising its own testing threshold from 50 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL, as discussed by the NSAC Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel.
"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," said panel member Dr. James Nave. "Maybe it's 400. ... It's a different ballgame now. Society is different and everything is different."
In addition, the Panel deliberated over several proposals to revise the NSAC's policy on testing for performance enhancing drugs, including considerations to lower the legal testosterone-to-epitestosterone level from 6:1 to 4:1, as well as "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."
According to the report, an official proposal is expected to be drafted within the next few weeks and introduced to the NSAC in July.
"I want to commend the committee," Ratner said in closing. "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."
