Henderson hitting Rafael Cavalcante

By FCF Staff

The California State Athletic Commission has begun taking legislative steps to help clear fighters for competition who use marijuana or testosterone replacement therapy for medical reasons.

On Monday, the CSAC reportedly passed an amendment which would allow the use of the latter if it is utilized as “medication needed to maintain health and not obtain an unfair advantage over an opponent during a match.”

The amendment, which was reported by Sports Illustrated.com, will be reviewed by the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs next and then the Office of Administrative Law before it becomes state law.

Over the last couple of years, several prominent fighters have run into licensing issues with various commissions, after failing drug tests due to what they claimed were medically necessary substances.

The aforementioned amendment is an attempt by the CSAC to streamline the exemption process, which currently is undertaken for specific athletes by the commission’s executive officer.

In 2010, Chael Sonnen was suspended by the CSAC after he allegedly tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following his UFC 117 bout with Anderson Silva. Sonnen claimed later that the results were due to TRT and that he believed he had received an exemption for the treatments previously.

Although the CSAC denied that any exemption had been given, Sonnen’s one year suspension was eventually reduced to six months.

Prior to Dan Henderson’s UFC 139 bout with Mauricio Rua in November, the veteran was granted an exemption for TRT by complying with an extensive regulatory process that was overseen by the CSAC’s Executive Director George Dodd.