As previously reported, MMA star Nick Diaz is facing charges from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a positive drug test for marijuana revolving around his fight at UFC 143 in early February. While Diaz is still awaiting his appearance in front of the Commission, his lawyer, Ross Goodman, is speaking out against recent allegations that Diaz lied to the Commission on a pre-fight questionnaire in which Diaz swore to not be using any prescription medications in the two weeks leading up to the fight.
In a new document filed to the Attorney General’s office on April 11th, Goodman states that the “complaint does not allege any facts support that Diaz violated a rule.” Goodman claims that any allegations of lying are missing the point, that “after the fact allegations impugning Diaz’s character serve to distract from the core issue that Nevada does not prohibit inactive marijuana metabolites.”
The document goes on to point out that since marijuana is not a prohibited substance by the NSAC, Diaz was only answering the questionnaire to the best of his knowledge, considering that he was of the assumption that marijuana use was not something that needed to be claimed. Diaz, a legal medical marijuana patient in California, does not consider marijuana to be a standard “prescribed medication,” but, rather, that he uses marijuana to treat a serious illness, ADHD.
The rest of the complaint focuses on the interpretation of the terms “prescribed medications,” “over the counter medications,” and “serious medical illness,” and Diaz’s lawyer makes some reasonable points that marijuana is only a recommended treatment, and not a prescription drug that he would need to pick up at a pharmacy. Goodman closes the statement with the conclusion “unless Diaz’s interpretations of ‘serious medical illness,’ ‘prescribed medication,’ and ‘over the counter medication or product’ are so clearly wrong as to constitute sufficient proof of bad faith intent to deceive, the Commission must dismiss the allegations.”
And while it doesn’t seem to us that Nick Diaz has done anything wrong, that may not be the interpretation from the NSAC. We will find out when Diaz gets his eventual hearing, where past cases like this have previously landed athletes with a year-long suspension.
Do you think Nick Diaz lied on his questionnaire? Is the NSAC way off base for even bringing these charges on Diaz?
Image via
[Yahoo]
