Nevada commission making stiff, sweeping changes to drug penalties

The Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting today, with the big news out of that meeting that the state is making enormous and fairly radical changes to the way it's going to handle fighters, both boxing and MMA, who fail drug tests.

Just a quick and dirty breakdown here, via Brett Okamoto of ESPN, with additional information from MMAFighting.com's Shaun Al-Shatti:

• Sedatives/muscle relaxants/sleep aids/anxiolytics/opiates/cannabis, 1st offense: 18 month suspension, 30-40% of purse; 2nd offense: 2 year suspension, 40-50% of purse; 3rd offense: 3 year suspension, 60-75% of purse; 4th offense: life suspension, 100% of purse
• Diuretics, 1st offense: 1 year suspension, 30-40% of purse; 2nd offense: 2 year suspension, 40-50% of purse; 3rd offense: life suspension, 100% of purse
• Stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine, etc.), 1st offense: 3 year suspension, 50-75% of purse; 2nd offense: 4 year suspension, 75-100% of purse; 3rd offense: life suspension, 100% of purse
• Anabolic steroids/testosterone/HGH, 1st offense: 3 year suspension, 50-70% of purse; 2nd offense: 4 year suspension, 75-100% of purse; 3rd offense: life suspension, 100% of purse
• Testing avoidance/cheating, 1st offense: 4 year suspension, 75% of purse; 2nd offense: life suspension, 100% of purse

A failed drug test will also now result in a loss, rather than a no-contest, so if you win a fight in Nevada and then fail a drug test for a diuretic, a steroid, marijuana, whatever else is banned at all times, you lost that fight.

Right now, the proposal is for these changes to go into effect on September 1, but this could certainly drag out a bit as there are likely to be at least some objections from fight promoters in every sport. This makes Nevada a much more costly state to fight in if you fail a drug test, and may dissuade some fighters from taking fights in Las Vegas.

NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar: "We have taken this commission to a whole new level."

— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) May 15, 2015

What do you think of these changes? Are they too harsh? Not harsh enough? Right on the money?