Matt has been puffing on the cream of the Magnitude vape crop for the past few weeks, and The SteamRolla has picked out a few of his favorite knockout strains.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced the details of its new Anti-Doping Policy, which took effect for all UFC athletes beginning Dec. 31, 2023, and with it comes a progressive stance on cannabis, reflecting a larger trend of reviewing cannabis policy and bans in sports.

The UFC announced that it will remove cannabis from its banned substances list, mirroring a larger shift in the world of sports and cannabis use.

The ruling comes after the UFC’s 2021 decision that cannabis would no longer be penalized for testing positive for THC. The policy deemed that positive tests for carboxy-THC, a THC metabolite, would no longer be considered a violation “unless additional evidence exists that an athlete used it intentionally for performance-enhancing purposes.”

According to a statement from UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, the newest iteration of the program raises “the bar for health and safety in combat sports.” 

Campbell highlighted the UFC’s goal for its Anti-Doping Policy to be “the best, most effective, and most progressive anti-doping program in all of professional sports,” adding that the UFC is proud of the advancements it’s made in the policy throughout the past eight years. Campbell affirmed that the UFC will continue to maintain an “independently administered drug-testing program” to ensure that all UFC athletes will compete under fair and equal circumstances.

UFC Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky similarly nodded to the new policy as a means to protect competitors, citing that the new program came about after “years of input and trial and error taken by UFC, our athletes, and third parties who have assisted UFC in operating the program.” 

Similarly, Novitzky noted that the policy is a “living and breathing document” that will continue to evolve and adapt in the future. 

One of Many Recent Shifts in Cannabis Policy and Sports

The move continues the pattern of changing policy regarding cannabis, THC and CBD in the sports world.

The National Football League (NFL) has drastically altered its cannabis testing procedures over the years. The NFL reworked its policy in 2021 so players would no longer be drug tested for THC during the offseason from April to August. The testing period was also reduced, so players would only be tested for THC between the start of training camp and the first preseason game.

The NFL also changed the threshold for a failed THC test, from 35 ng/ml to 150 ng/ml. If a player does exceed the threshold for a test, they will also no longer be suspended. Rather, the NFL now looks toward treatment rather than punishment; the intervention program’s first stage involves a review of the case by a panel of medical experts to determine if the player needs treatment for addiction and suggest appropriate care. 

Only players who don’t follow the proposed medical treatment are fined and moved to stage two. Further failure to comply could lead to suspension.

Most recently, the National Basketball Association (NBA) also removed cannabis from its list of banned substances. The new collective bargaining agreement went into effect on July 1, 2023 also allows the league’s players to use cannabis and invest in cannabis companies under specific circumstances. 

The new contract notes that players cannot be high at games, practices or other team functions, and any cannabis use that becomes problematic will still be subject to action from the NBA.

Despite these changes, the World Anti-Doping Agency has maintained its ban on cannabis, in that it “has the potential to enhance sport performance; it represents a health risk to the athlete; and it violates the spirit of sport.” This rule drew particularly strong backlash recently when U.S. runner Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for a positive cannabis test.

Cannabis as a Progressive Recovery and Harm Reduction Tool for Athletes

Given the physical nature of these sports, reform on cannabis policy is often seen as a progressive approach in allowing athletes to seek out specific care to best treat injuries and prevent further harm to their bodies. 

A growing number of retired athletes have shared that they used cannabis during their active years to treat aches and pains, and growing research has confirmed the efficacy of cannabis in treating athletic injuries and maintaining a sense of health for sports professionals.

In a recent survey, 93% of athletic participants said they felt CBD helped them with recovery from exercise while 87% said the same about THC. Researchers noted that “Individuals who habitually use cannabis, CBD or THC, and regularly engage in exercise do feel that cannabis assists them with exercise recovery.”

Another survey examining the opinions of sports medicine doctors showed that most have favorable attitudes about cannabis use — 72% of respondents supported the 2018 removal of CBD from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned substances list, while 59% supported removing cannabis as a whole. A majority of respondents also said that they believe CBD and THC are not performance enhancing (approximately 76% and 66%, respectively).

A 2023 study even found that regular cannabis use has the potential to offset repeated blows to the head, showing potential promise for professional athletes like boxers, football and soccer players seeking to reduce the risk of long-term brain damage.

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Nate Diaz and Jake Paul will face off in the boxing ring on August 5 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The eight-round pay-per-view (PPV) event on Showtime is Diaz’s professional boxing debut following his decorated career in mixed martial arts (MMA) as a UFC fighter.

Diaz was denied a request for an exemption from the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR). The TDLR has a zero-tolerance policy for cannabis use, but Diaz’s manager Zach Rosenfield requested an exemption. 

Questions arose whether the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA)—an organization that provides anti-doping practices and programs in boxing and mixed martial arts—may supersede the TLDR, MMA Fighting first reported. A TDLR spokesperson told Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting that Diaz will be subject to the same rules as everyone else in combative sports.

For the time being, it looks like Diaz will still be screened for THC.

“We will be working with VADA on testing prior to the fight and will be in compliance with all VADA rules, as well as the rules and regulations set forth by TDLR,” Real Fight, Inc. President and Diaz manager Zach Rosenfield told High Times.

Many professional athletes know what they can and cannot get away with regarding drug testing for pot, and the timing involved. “We gonna be testing,” Diaz told reporters at a press conference, referring to the drug test sample. “There’s a lot of weed in [my system]. There is.”

Diaz taunted Paul on Twitter, to which the former YouTuber fired back. “You speaking to me Nathan?” Paul said, responding to Diaz’s tweet. “We haven’t forgotten that you tested positive for steroids. You and your boyfriend Connor are juice heads. Let’s do 15 rounds and see how good those cannabis corroded lungs are. VADA going to be coming to Stockton to slap you up.”

If it were a UFC fight, the request might have resulted in a different outcome. The U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) adopted guidelines to no longer punish UFC fighters when THC is detected in a drug test in 2021.

In addition to mandatory drug tests from TDLR, Diaz and Paul will likely provide samples to the VADA both before and after their boxing match in Dallas.

Everything is on the line, at least for Paul’s boxing career. A surprise knockout by Tommy “The Truth” Fury on February 26 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, cost a lot of bettors money. That makes Paul 6-1 in the boxing ring, beating AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson, Ben Askren, and Tyron Woodley twice.

Paul has been subject to drug tests multiple times since his transformation from a YouTube star (along with his brother Logan) to boxing. Paul did not like a question during an interview ahead of the Diaz fight by a reporter who suggested he is not destined for the Hall of Fame.

“See, I’ve done more for the sport than any boxer in current history,” Paul said. “What has Floyd Mayweather done for women’s boxing? The list goes on. I’ve changed the whole entire game, brought a new 70 million followers to the sport and put on bigger pay-per-views than some of these Hall of Fame guys. Ryan Garcia-Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, 800,000 pay-per-views. Me vs. Tommy, 830,000. So, you wanna talk about Hall of Famers? You wanna talk about resume? Yeah, I’m building it up, buddy. I just got started in this game. This is my eighth fight and I’m fighting Nate Diaz, one of the biggest MMA fighters in history. So, yeah, that’s my resume.”

Diaz and his brother Nick have spoken out regarding pot reform for years. The two eventually launched Game Up® Nutrition, a plant-based wellness company providing products loaded with cannabinoids, adaptogens, and superfoods.

Over a decade ago Nick told the Los Angeles Times his cleansing method before a drug test. This followed a technical knockout (TKO) win over Frank Shamrock back in 2009, who is also an outspoken cannabis advocate.

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Elias Theodorou, known for his successful mixed martial artist (MMA) career and medical cannabis advocacy, passed away at age 34 on September 11 after a long battle with liver cancer.

Born in Mississauga, Canada, located in the province of Ontario, Theodorou’s career began after his first year in college. High Times had the pleasure of interviewing him in January 2021, where he explained that a video posted on YouTube of him losing a fight went viral.

“Demoralized, I confided in my father, and he said, ‘You love that [Ultimate Fighting Championship] UFC stuff so much, why don’t you go to a gym and make sure this never happens again?’” he told High Times. “And I did. At first my intentions were to win back my pride against the person that embarrassed me, instead, I won a sense of purpose—enlightening both body and mind now in ‘higher’ education.”

Theodorou’s career took him to great heights, leading him to become a UFC fighter, and become winner of “The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia” in the middleweight bracket in 2014. He was released from his UFC contract in 2019, but continued to fight and win in the Prospect Fighting Championships in December 2019, Rise FC in March 2021, and Colorado Combat Club 10 in December 2021.

His coach and longtime friend, Lachlan Cheng, was a medical cannabis patient for more than 10 years. Seeing his coach using medical cannabis exposed him to the benefits of cannabis, the negative effects of prescription medications in comparison.

Personally, he began using medical cannabis to treat his bilateral neuropathy (nerve damage) in his upper extremities. “Fighting is a grind, so my options to medicate were opioids and painkillers or cannabis,” he said. “One is highly addictive and has caused death from abuse—not to mention the side effects like constipation, upset stomach, bloating and many other debilitating repercussions as both patient and athlete. The alternative is cannabis, a medicine that helps me compete and live on an even playing field while treating my condition.”

In 2020, Theodorou became the first athlete to receive a Therapeutic Use Exemption in North America for his cannabis use. “I was the first pro athlete and UFC fighter to apply for a therapeutic-use exemption in the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, which is part of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),” Theodorou said. “My [therapeutic-use exemption] for the UFC was not accepted, even with USADA agreeing with my condition and potential need for cannabis because it is funded by the U.S. government, which still has cannabis as a Schedule I substance. Meaning they don’t believe it has any medical properties… They only recommended painkillers, opioids and anti-depressant drugs.”

His advocacy for medical cannabis continued up until his passing. On August 29, he shared the support of a cannabis brand called Game Day. “Game on!  #PlantsOverPills @gameday.98 has officially launched! Couldn’t be more excited to be apart of a company and team ready to change the game in both cannabis AND sports! Ready to fight the stigma because “I choose cannabis instead”. #Dope #Sports” he wrote.

In the wake of his passing, many remember Theodorou’s career and his light-hearted personality during the course of his career. “I have the biggest smile and constantly laugh with my team throughout training camp and fight week,” he told High Times. “It might sound the opposite of what a fighter does, but I love what I do, so it’s easy to enjoy the process.”

He also served as a “ring boy” for Invicta FC, an all-pro women’s MMA championship, to promote equality. “The addition of ring boys is just another way to even the playing field in another area of the sport. I think we’re on the right side of history,” he told BBC in March 2018. “The response so far has been, I’d say, 70-80% positive. Some people don’t get it, but that’s okay. Anyway, those who know me will know that I put out a pretty positive conversation in general. When people troll me for other things, I show them kindness.”

Many noteworthy advocates have passed away recently, including Olivia Newton-John and Zahra Abbas in August.

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