Nevada commission makes it official: No penalty for pot

It’s official: Fighters who use cannabis products will no longer be accused of doping violations in Nevada.

That much had been true since 2021, when the Nevada Athletic Commission said it would no longer punish fighters who used cannabis unless they showed up impaired, and therefore wouldn’t be allowed to fight.

But the commission had to further make the policy official by sending it to other lawmakers and state agencies. That process is now complete, according to MMA reporter John Morgan, who covered the Nevada Athletic Commission’s October 29 hearing.

A message left with the commission’s office Tuesday afternoon wasn’t initially returned.

The most notable instance of a boxer punished in Nevada for cannabis use came more than a decade ago, when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was suspended for nine months and fined by the Nevada commission for testing positive after his loss to Sergio Martinez. Chavez blamed a prescription treatment for insomnia that contained cannabis.

Even back in 2013, the Nevada commission was easing up on cannabis usage. Chavez had initially been fined $900,000, but that was dropped to $100,000 in a settlement agreement that came about in part due to the World Anti-Doping Agency easing its restrictions on cannabis use, commission Chairman Bill Brady said at the time.

Otherwise, most of the cases in the state have involved MMA fighters. Nick Diaz was the most famous example in 2015. More recently, there were Kevin Croom, Tim Elliott, Jamahal Hill, Trevin Jones, Luis Pena and Niko Price in 2020; and Bevon Lewis in early 2021.