Back when the Nevada Athletic Commission handed out an insane 5-year suspension to Nick Diaz for marijuana, a White House Petition was created in hopes that the ban would be lifted. The petition needed 100,000 signatures, and after the MMA community rallied, it reached the goal and ended up with 115,056.
They have now issued an official response, which you can read below.
OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TO ‘Lift the NSAC ban from MMA fighter Nick Diaz’.
This response was published on December 8, 2015.
A response to your petition on the suspension of Nick Diaz:
Thank you for your petition regarding the Nevada Athletic Commission’s suspension of Nick Diaz.
The federal government plays no role in the disciplinary actions taken by state athletic commissions, so we are not in a position to address the specific request raised in your petition. State authorities — in this case, the Nevada Athletic Commission — will generally be the best source for information about those kinds of issues.
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However, we appreciate that so many of you banded together to make your voices heard through this platform.
If there are federal policy issues you care about, using this tool can help you and people all across the country communicate directly with a team in the White House focused on responding to petitions that get enough support. For example, in the past few years, we’ve weighed in on issues ranging from education regulations to wildlife trafficking, from criminal justice reform to vaccinations, and from electronic communication and net neutrality to international relations.
And, if you signed this petition because you’re curious about the Administration’s position on medical marijuana, check out these past responses to petitions on that issue:
What We Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana
What We Have to Say About Marijuana and Veterans
We hope you’ll continue to participate on the platform.
— The We the People Team
Unless you’re one of those who thought Obama and the White House were actually going to bypass protocol and veto the suspension, this basically went exactly as expected. The petition wasn’t really going to accomplish that, but it was a nice tool to show a strong message about the topic at hand — one that even had various celebrities and non-MMA personalities all joining in to voice their support.
“Amazing. The White House response is anybody’s guess,” Nick’s lawyer said about reaching enough signatures last October. “The 100,000 does, however, prove that our defense prevailed in the court of public opinion, further highlighting the injustice of the entire proceeding.”
As for Diaz himself, last we heard, they may be approaching a settlement with the NAC to shorten the suspension.
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