Starting this year, if a major league baseball player tests positive for steroid use, he'll be suspended for 50 games for the first offense. Based on the 2005 average salary of $2,479,125, the player would lose $765,162.05 because of the suspension.

But if a boxer or mixed martial artist tests positive for steroids in Nevada, he will not be fined, but will receive only a short suspension and a fatherly talking-to by the state athletic commission.

At least that's the impression I got this week after attending a so-called disciplinary hearing for Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Nathan Marquardt, conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Marquardt tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone following an Aug. 6 UFC bout at the Cox Pavilion. His license was immediately suspended upon receipt of the test.

Marquardt appeared before the commission Thursday. He was dressed nicely, spoke softly and was appropriately contrite. The five commissioners -- chairman Skip Avansino, John Bailey, Dr. Tony Alamo, T.J. Day and Joe W. Brown -- clearly were taken with him.

Alamo spoke to him soothingly, asking Marquardt what he had learned from the experience. Avansino warned him never to do it again. Bailey vowed to lower the boom if Marquardt fails another test.

Listening to it, I wondered what Fernando Vargas must have been thinking. Like Marquardt, Vargas failed a steroids test. But unlike Marquardt, the commission lowered the boom on Vargas the first time, not the second time.

Vargas tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanozolol following his Sept. 14, 2002, loss to Oscar De La Hoya at Mandalay Bay. He was suspended nine months from the date of the fight and fined $100,000.

Marquardt was suspended five months from the date of his fight and was assessed no fine.

Vargas' problem is that he is more famous than Marquardt and the media was more interested in his case than Marquardt's. When Vargas' positive test was announced, it was front-page news. When Marquardt's positive test was announced, it didn't merit so much as a single sentence in any daily newspaper other than the Review-Journal.

Several of the commissioners said they drew a distinction between Vargas and Marquardt because Vargas didn't admit his transgression immediately.

The truth is, Vargas didn't react any differently than Marquardt. When talking to reporters, Vargas initially denied taking steroids, but at the hearing admitted he had taken a pill given to him by a nutritionist. He said he did not know what the pill was, but took it because he trusted his nutritionist.

Marquardt was not contacted by reporters when his positive test was announced. Given his defense Thursday, I suspect that he would have had the same initial response as Vargas: denial.

At Thursday's hearing, Marquardt said he bought an over-the-counter supplement at a Max Muscle store that, much to his eventual chagrin, caused the positive test.

Marquardt, who said he believes steroid usage is a problem in his sport and said he knows fighters who use steroids, was treated ridiculously easily by the commission.

Nevada needs a standardized -- and much tougher -- steroids policy. Of the 11 fighters who tested positive for an anabolic steroid (Nandrolone was the favorite, popping up in eight of the tests, with Stanozolol appearing in four), six were not fined and six received suspensions of six months or less.

The latter statistic is skewed because three men -- boxer Cruz Carvajal and mixed martial artists Mark Smith and Marty Helwig -- failed to show up at their disciplinary hearings and were treated more harshly as a result. Smith wasn't fined, but was suspended for a year. Helwig, whose purse was $300, was fined $150 and suspended for a year, while Carvajal, whose purse was $15,000, was fined $7,500 and suspended for a year.

The fighters -- nine of the 11 are mixed martial artists -- have learned that if they act contritely, they'll get off easily.

The commission is right to treat each case individually, but the discrepancies in the penalties handed down underscore the need for a standardized minimum penalty. Only five fighters -- Vargas, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, former UFC contender Kimo Leopoldo, Carvajal and Helwig -- were even fined.

Steroids are more dangerous in a sport like boxing than in baseball, because a steroid user in baseball is only harming himself, but a steroid user in the fight game can be potentially more lethal to his opponent.

The commission ought to set a minimum suspension of one year along with a fine of $5,000 for a positive test.

Congress forced baseball's hand to enact stiffer penalties for steroid use. It shouldn't have to do so for the Nevada Athletic Commission, which prides itself on being the world leader in fighter safety procedures.

Toughening the steroid policy in Nevada would make boxing and fighting fairer and safer for all.

Kevin Iole's boxing column appears on Saturday. Reach him at 396-4428 or via e-mail at kiole@reviewjournal.com.