Wednesday, January 7, 2015

WADA Does Not Ban Cocaine?

In the sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is widely considered to be one of the best ever. He's right up there alongside Anderson Silva as the greatest UFC champions ever.

If there's any doubts, Jones crashed them as few days ago by soundly beating former Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier a few days ago at UFC 182. Only one problem; it is now discovered that a month before the fight, Jones tested positive for cocaine in a random drug test.

In random drug test given to him on Dec. 4 by the Nevada Athletic Commission, Jones tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in cocaine. Yet because benzoylecgonine is not banned out-of-competition, Jones was still allowed to fight at UFC 182. Only after his victory did UFC publicly announced the positive test and that Jones will enter a drug treatment facility for treatment. Yes, that's right. Cocaine is not banned out-of-competition!

That just sucks! Cyclist Alberto Contador was banned for having clenbuterol in his system despite it being 400 times below what was required to affect his performance; boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. got a 9 month ban for smoking marijuana; but cocaine is okay? There's something seriously wrong with that.

Not just with Jones and the UFC (for covering things up till after the fight) but also with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). How can cocaine not be banned? That is just ridiculous.  

No comments: