Zilos

MONTREAL - Judging by the flurry of news releases coming out of the national anti-doping program, these are dark days for Canadian sport. "Junior Football Athletes Commit Anti-Doping Rule Violations," read an announcement last week. "Acadia University Athlete Commits Anti-Doping Rule Violation," said another the previous week. Bulletins in December flagged doping transgressions by a member of the University of Prince Edward Island women's soccer team and a football receiver for St. Mary's University in Halifax.

The athletes in question are not steroid-abusing cheats, however. In each case, the prohibited substance detected in random post-game tests was cannabis.

As part of Canada's adherence to the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances, drug-testing of athletes from Olympians to teenaged football players now includes screening for marijuana, which can remain detectable for weeks after consumption.

"If you can think of a product that is less performance-enhancing than marijuana, please let me know," Joe Berghello, president of Montreal's North Shore Football League, said this week, reacting to news that two players on the North Shore Broncos were reprimanded after their urine tests came back positive for cannabis.

"What are you testing for? Are you testing to make sure that no one is cheating by using performance-enhancing drugs -- stimulants or steroids? Or are you just testing to find contraband?"

An official with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the federally funded agency that administers Canada's anti-doping program, sounded almost apologetic about the rash of positive cannabis tests announced by the centre.

"We have to accept the rules that are given to us," Joseph de Pencier, who directs the domestic anti-doping program, said in an interview. "We perhaps would like to see a little more flexibility on stuff like this [cannabis] that is not so central to the fight against doping."

The centre began widespread screening for cannabis on Jan. 1, 2004, after some countries, led by the United States, lobbied successfully to have the drug included on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list. Canada had objected to its inclusion. In an advisory to athletes posted on its Web site, the centre cautions that traces of cannabis "may be detected in an athlete's urine sample for several weeks when used heavily and frequently, and for 10 or more days after a single exposure."

In a country with relatively liberal attitudes toward marijuana, where the government is proposing to decriminalize possession, the rule change has had a big impact. Of the 10 Canadian athletes found to have committed doping violations in 2004, six were for cannabis use. Two were for cocaine, one was for elevated testosterone levels and the other was for prednisone, a steroid.

When an athlete can establish that the cannabis was not consumed to give a competitive edge, a first offence generally results in a warning and reprimand. But if he is caught a second time, the penalty is a two-year ban from competition. A third infraction results in a lifetime ban.

Athletes can also be stripped of honours if they test positive. Ivan Birungi, a wide receiver with the Acadia Axemen who led his conference in scoring last season with 11 touchdowns, forfeited his Second-Team All-Canadian status this month after testing positive for cannabis. Mike O'Toole, an Ontario high-jumper, lost his third-place finish at last July's Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships following a positive test for cannabis.

Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, worries about the potential employment problems a publicized doping violation could pose.

In an effort to prevent countries from covering up their athletes' doping violations, Canada has committed to issuing a news release whenever one of its own athletes is caught. So when it comes to publicity, the centre treats university athletes who smoked marijuana no differently from someone caught taking steroids.

"We certainly have questioned, is it really necessary to do a media release, because there is the public embarrassment, and potentially it has some impact on career choice of student athletes who might have wanted to go into law enforcement or law school or whatever," Ms. McGregor said. "Now if you just Google their name, up would pop a cannabis infraction."

She said she would prefer student athletes were not being tested for cannabis, but it is impossible to opt out of the anti-doping regime for a particular substance.

Mr. Birungi said he finds the attention given to cannabis consumption overblown. "I know athletes have a higher profile and all that, but basic students at any Canadian university, especially Canadian universities, chances are they're smoking pot," he said. He said he finds it inconsistent that student athletes are being tested while the pros in the Canadian Football League are not.

Canadian officials say the United States had a large role in getting cannabis included on the list of prohibited substances. "I guess their point of view is that marijuana is bad for you -- it's a health risk, and that it is unethical," Mr. de Pencier said.

He said Canada would prefer devoting its anti-doping resources to substances that give athletes an unfair advantage, such as human-growth hormones and the so-called designer steroids.

"I don't think we've changed our view that the way the World Code and the list treat cannabis is not quite right, and we intend to continue pursuing that issue internationally," Mr. de Pencier said. "It takes a lot of time and money to do this analysis and to deal with the individual cases, and maybe in the fight against doping that shouldn't be the priority."

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Brainstorm

This kills me - - I'd love to see anyone prove that mj can give an athlete a competitive advantage!!

Zilos

It could, by releaving stress, and allowing them to concentrate. Not saying they should be high during sports, but if smoked days before it may help.

Dilmeet

do u know what train track marijuana is?