The World UFC middleweight Champion, Isreal Adesanya does not mince words when it comes to marijuana.
“Everyone knows I smoke,” Adesanya tells Newshub. “Everyone knows I partake in the plant.”
“I remember going for a walk with my dog and I counted three liquor stores within a three-block radius, and maybe five or six other bars.
“You can go into any of those places, get blatantly drunk, and get into your car, drive and crash – and that happens every week.
“So, what’s wrong with someone growing a plant that makes them happy, a little bit more relaxed, more sensitive to their feeling, more aware and alert, depending on the strain?”
Speaking on coming referendum on cannabis in New Zealand, where the public will vote whether to legalise and regulate its sale, use, possession and production, the 30-year-old leaves little doubt which way he’ll vote come September.
“What’s wrong with taxing it?,” he queries. “It’s just propaganda that’s been passed down through generations and frankly, I’m sick of it.
“I really don’t care.”
Marijuana and cannabis are prohibited ‘in-competition’ by the US anti-doping agency, meaning positive tests are only returned if it’s used in the immediate hours before or after competing.
“I don’t think it should be banned,” Adesanya says. “Just be smart about it – in moderation with everything.
“I wouldn’t advise fighting while you’re high, but I wouldn’t advise fighting drunk either, unless you’re Jackie Chan in Drunken Master.”
Recreational use of marijuana for people over 21 has been legalised in 11 American states where the UFC hosts most of its events.
