CSAC Approves Amendment of Medical Exemption for Usage of Marijuana and TRT

According to SportsIlustrated.com, the California State Athletic Commission has approved the amendment of Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Marijuana for therapeutic use.

This now allows fighters to have a medical exemption for either TRT or marijuana, which were at one time considered banned substances by the state.

The amendment was passed earlier this week and will go upon further review by the Director of Consumer Affairs before any official law is legalized. 

CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd said that a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) will only be given to fighters who can provide proper medical documentation of past usage of the drug. 

SI.com also reports the CSAC have loosely based their exemption process after the World-Anti Doping Agency and their Olympic drug-testing procedures to ensure fighters who apply are using "medication needed to maintain health and not obtain an unfair advantage over an opponent during a match.”

“California doesn’t have a therapeutic use exemption and in the absence of one, the executive officer cannot authorize someone to fight with any of the [prohibitive] substances in use,” CSAC counsel Anita Scurry said. 

Among those fighters who were medically exempted, was Dan Henderson, who applied for a TUE prior to his UFC 139 bout against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua last November. 

Dodd also said fighters, like Henderson, who apply for a TUE will have to provide extensive medical documents in order to be granted strictly for medical purposes. Dodd added that a fighter must submit a blood test prior to and after their bout to ensure their levels are consistent.