When the Nevada Athletic Commission slammed UFC fighter Nick Diaz with a $165,000 fine and whopping five-year suspension for testing positive for cannabis in a 2015 drug test, it seemed the benign — but too oft-maligned — plant had won no friends in the field of professional fighting.

Less than two full years later, however, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency appears to have changed its tune — drastically — especially considering draconian federal marijuana prohibition has yet to be lifted.

UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping called attention to the apparent shift in policy while discussing cannabis use among athletes — in particular, Nate and Nick Diaz.

Since being forced from competition in the UFC — where the welterweight last fought Anderson Silva in a no-contest bout — Diaz turned to triathlons to satisfy his athletic goals.

And he hasn't stopped using cannabis — a recent video of the fighter casually sharing a joint with another athlete prior to the start of a triathlon shows Diaz' attitude toward the plant matches the prevailing national sentiment.