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Florida Boxing Commission Removes Marijuana from Banned Substance List



Combat sports athletes competing in Florida will no longer be tested for marijuana.

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At a meeting on Tuesday, the Florida Boxing Commission voted to remove marijuana from its prohibited substance list. In the past, the commission adopted a zero-tolerance policy on cannabis, and fighters who tested positive would be fined, suspended and have victories overturned.

The update in policy was based on a recommendation from the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) medical advisory committee as well as a change in stance on marijuana by USADA to the UFC’s anti-doping policy. The commission will only take action in the instance that an athlete is visibly impaired on fight night.

"We're not testing for it," Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation spokesperson Patrick Fargason told ESPN. "We're not doing anything with it -- period.”

UFC 261 was held at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on April 24, and no athletes tested positive for marijuana. The new policy took effect immediatley on Tuesday, according to Fargason.

Earlier this year, USADA and the UFC changed the promotion’s anti-doping policy so that fighters who test positive for marijuana, no matter the level, would not be found in violation of the policy.

“It has no [effect] whatsoever on a competition on Saturday night, so it’s the right move, and I’m really excited about this revision and that specific policy change,” UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky said earlier this year. “I would caution everybody to temper their enthusiasm about this because we are still working on the commission factor here, but we are actively working on that. We are educating, informing, lobbying them, and I hope not too far in the near future that we can get uniformity across all the rules as it relates to marijuana because I think it would certainly be a benefit to the athletes.”

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