Before Saturday’s Strikeforce event in San Jose, California, the buzz around the venue was focused on Nick Diaz being unable to participate in the event due to what CSAC Executive Director, Armando Garcia, described as Diaz not submitted his medicals in time. When reporters found Gary Shaw, his side of the story was much different. Shaw claimed that he had a conversation with Armando Garcia in which Diaz’s medical marijuana card was deemed to be the issue with Diaz’s status to fight. The two different sides of the story clashed and have now culminated into a story that has hit MMA hard with controversy. Should a medical marijuana user be allowed to fight? Does it matter? Can Nick Diaz seek legal action against the CSAC and actually win?

The case against the CSAC

I’m not a legal expert, but common sense can at least take us a bit further into how someone would build a case against the CSAC in this instance. Diaz and his manager Cesar Gracie both stated in multiple interviews that Diaz had finished all his medicals and disclosed his medical marijuana card two-three weeks prior to the event. Of course, Diaz left the sending of the medicals to the CSAC up to the doctor’s office in which he visited which was likely a CSAC approved facility. In contradicting Garcia’s statement, Cesar Gracie had this to say in a MMAWeekly interview:

Gracie denied Garcia’s claim that Diaz did not turn in his medicals on time.

“That’s absolutely not true,” said Gracie about the timing of the medicals being received. “Because if he didn’t turn his medicals in, how did (Garcia) know Nick has a cannabis club card? He found out when the medicals were turned in. Nick doesn’t turn in medicals. He goes and gets them done and the lab was turning them in for him.

“There are fighters on this card that did not get their medicals in until today. They got them done last night and turned them in today, and they are fighting.”

Gracie makes a good point. Garcia would not have been disclosed the information about the medical marijuana card unless he was aware of the medical reports already. Secondly, if fighters were turning in medicals on the same day as the event, I fail to see how Diaz could not have done the same thing if Garcia had stated that his medicals were not submitted. There is however a flaw in Gracie's logic, and we'll talk about that later.

Many people feel this case revolves around the medical marijuana card, and it very well could end up heading in that direction, but the paper trail of the medicals is the true evidence piece here. If Diaz can prove he had taken all his medicals weeks before the event and that they were delivered to the CSAC in a timely manner for the CSAC to investigate, he could see at least some reimbursement from the CSAC for his “to-show” purse from the fight.

Medical Marijuana

If Diaz’s case revolves around the issue of his medical marijuana card, we could see some interesting developments in how the CSAC has been handling these particular situations. The CSAC has instituted the following policy to explain what needs to be done if prescription drugs are used by the fighter:

For health and safety reasons, the Commission may deny a license or delay the issuing of a license or refuse a licensee to compete if he or she is using medication that may enhance or diminish performance, or medication deemed detrimental to his or her health and safety.

If you are on any type of prescription medication, including medicinal marijuana, you must disclose this at the time of licensing and/or as early in the bout approval process as possible. The Commission will require you to submit ALL pertinent medical information regarding the prescription medication for submission to a Commission physician for review. The review and approval process takes time; therefore, this information must be disclosed immediately in the event planning process.

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE WEEK OF THE FIGHT OR THE WEIGH IN TO DISCLOSE THIS INFORMATION. DOING SO MAY CAUSE THE COMMISSION TO CANCEL YOUR FIGHT.

If you do not disclose that you are taking a prescribed medication prior to the fight and your drug test is positive, you will be suspended, fined, and/or may be required to appear in front of the Commission. You may also be subject to other disciplinary action including denial or revocation of your license.

In the huge capitalized lettering, we see the fair warning to fighters. Diaz must prove that his medicals were turned in after they were done weeks ahead of time to really have a shot. His medical marijuana card was disclosed on the forms, but Gracie’s comment about Garcia knowing about the card which proved the medicals were turned in isn’t exactly solid. Even if Garcia knew of the card, the medicals could have technically been turned in that day. According to Garcia, the commission must review all cases involving medical marijuana cards.

I only found this mentioned in a June 25, 2007 CSAC meeting note in which that actual policy wasn’t instituted yet. It may very well be the case now, but here is the proposed procedure that was discussed at that time:

Medicinal marijuana – Mr. Garcia reported that no medicinal marijuana recommendations have been submitted prior to the event but rather in response to suspensions for positive marijuana drug tests. He further noted that The California Compassionate Use Act of 1996 recommends medical marijuana be treated in the same fashion as other prescribed drugs; however, the Commission must determine from the prescribing physicians what condition the athlete has that warrants medical marijuana and if the drug is being used in a timely fashion because the athlete may be eligible for a Therapeutic Exemption Use (TUE). Mr. Garcia recommended that the Commission require any athlete who submits a medicinal marijuana exemption to appear before the Health and Safety Committee for review. Commissioner Giza noted that it may not be feasible to examine each case because of the growing number of situations and the infrequent meetings of the Committee. He stated that medicinal marijuana should be viewed in the same fashion as other prescription drugs. This review was for informational purposes and the subject will be included as a future agenda item.

This seems to be the policy that Garcia hinted at when asked about the investigations that the commission was doing when a medical marijuana case was presented. I’m very curious to hear what a judge would decide on these policies as they somewhat circumvent the entire medical marijuana laws. The CSAC can investigate the claims that fighter is using medical marijuana for an ailment, and decide appropriately if the condition warrants a fighter to continue using marijuana while fighting? But maybe this isn’t so odd.

After all, the Supreme Court did decide that employers can fire employees who use medical marijuana in compliance with California’s Compassionate Use Act. Why not allow the CSAC to pick apart each fighter’s special case for medical marijuana and then decide amongst themselves whether actual law applies? It seems like they have too much power in this instance, and I think a court case could clear some air at the CSAC. To be honest, the CSAC just needs to be cleaned out.

Can he win?

If the case involves a paper trail and his lawyers can dig up that paper trail, he has a chance of getting his “show” salary at least. If they are unable to come up with anything resembling a piece of paper with dates and facts on it, he’s definitely going to be out of luck. Depending on what angle his lawyers take, it’s still uncertain whether they will take the angle that Garcia was discriminating Diaz for his use of medical marijuana.

The only thing I really want to be cleared up from this case is what the stance is from the CSAC on medical marijuana. It looks as if their procedure in these matters has yet to completed, and they are working “on the fly” in this case. A court hearing may be able to put the use of medical marijuana by fighters on the fast track to resolution. I’d also like to hear how the CSAC ultimately always has power over the actual laws in California. Is their power uncontested? Let’s hope some answers are coming our way.