Cynthia Calvillo Suspended by USADA For Marijuana Use

USADA has claimed yet another victim for marijuana use. This time, it’s top strawweight prospect and Team Alpha Male standout, Cynthia Calvillo who was first notified of her positive test back in January.

USADA released their statement today that pertains to what’s in store for Calvillo:

“USADA announced today that UFC® athlete Cynthia Calvillo, of Sacramento, Calif., has accepted a six-month sanction for her anti-doping policy violation.

Calvillo, 30, tested positive for Carboxy-THC, the pharmacologically-active metabolite of marijuana and/or hashish, above the decision limit of 180 ng/mL, stemming from an in-competition sample collected on December 30, 2017, at UFC 219 in Las Vegas, Nev. Marijuana and hashish are in the class of Cannabinoids and prohibited in-competition under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Cannabinoids are listed as Specified Substances on the WADA Prohibited List. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard sanction for an anti-doping policy violation involving a Specified Substance is a one-year period of ineligibility, which may be reduced depending on the athlete’s degree of fault.

Calvillo accepted a six-month period of ineligibility, which began on December 30, 2017, and may be reduced to a three-month period of ineligibility, pending the satisfactory completion of a USADA-approved drug awareness and management program. Calvillo’s positive test also falls under the jurisdiction of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which may impose additional sanctions, including fines or a period of ineligibility that is longer than the period set forth above.”

In her last outing at UFC 219, Calvillo suffered the first loss of her career to the former Invicta FC and UFC strawweight champion, Carla Esparza. The very entertaining back and forth scrap snapped Calvillo’s six-fight winning streak(three of which took place in the UFC, four in 2017).

The suspension could be worse for the young, Calvillo but really she’s just getting some mandatory off time. Which in the end, could be good when considering how often she had been fighting.

But the bigger problem/debate remains as to whether or not marijuana should be on the list of banned substances and if it’s a performance enhancer or not.

What do you think? Is it just a matter of time before marijuana is taken off the list?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/7/2018.