Will the UFC’s New Standard for Marijuana Testing Actually Level the Playing Field?

News recently came out that the UFC has decided to raise the acceptable level of marijuana metabolites to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s standard of 150 ng/ml. Previously regulated at 50 ng/ml, the promotion has fallen under scrutiny for fighters being suspended as harshly for using marijuana as they would for steroids. UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner spoke to MMA Junkie to declare the news:

“When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150. So we’re starting that immediately.”

The NSAC is also reportedly on board with this change, which is a sign of changing times that increasingly views marijuana use in a much less negative light. However, although the panel deliberated for some time on the change, they merely gave credit to the UFC’s decision rather than making it official for their own testing. Dr. James Nave of the panel had this to say:

“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. Maybe it’s 400. … It’s a different ballgame now. Society is different and everything is different.”

It is true that stances on marijuana are rapidly changing, and it’s going to be increasingly hard to suspend and regulate fighters for using something that is becoming legalized in many states for medical use, including Nevada. Ratner realized this, and commented:

“I want to commend the committee. 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.”

So it appears that the UFC and the NSAC are somewhat on the same page regarding marijuana, and do think a change in testing standards is necessary. But with that stance, the discussion now rages on with more fuel to the fire. After all, is adding 100 ng/ml to the testing threshold really going to change anything in terms of fighter use and suspensions? Perhaps it will, perhaps it will not.

However, TRT is also being used at an alarming rate, and with doctor approval. Many fans and media find it absolutely ludicrous that a fighter can be approved to use TRT (often due to perceived anabolic steroid use in the past), but then another is suspended for smoking marijuana. The committee did also deliberate on changing the accepted T:E ratio from 6:1 down to 4:1, most likely an effort to curb those who abuse TRT privileges and also deter non-approved testosterone use.

This is a good step towards downplaying the emphasis placed on marijuana use among fighters, as it seems to be plaguing MMA more than ever. But at the core of the issue, fighters know that is on the list of non-accepted substances, and that a failure means suspension nonetheless. This may be a move towards eliminating that, but for now, limits have only gone up slightly.

Will this actually do anything to curb the problem. I’d have to say it’s a step in the right direction towards making the anti-doping playing field level between marijuana and TRT, but there’s still a lot of ground to cover. Many fighters are speaking out against TRT as cheating, but many others are reaping in its benefits wholeheartedly as well. Do you think this was a great step towards focusing on what truly does and does not matter for testing fighters?