Marijuana Not Banned Substance for Commonwealth Games Tests

June 03, 1998 - Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Athletes competing at this year's Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur will not be stripped of their medals if they test positive for marijuana.

"We are not interested in marijuana because it isn't a restricted drug in any of the Commonwealth sports, so we don't take any notice of it," Dr. Geoffrey Haigh, honorary medical advisor for the Commonwealth Games Federation, said Wedneday. "It's not an issue."

Marijuana testing and concerns over pollution in the Malaysian capital were two topics discussed during a Commonwealth Games Federation meeting Haigh attended last week in Kuala Lumpur.

Asked if an athlete testing positive for marijuana would be stripped of their medal, Haight said: "No. Never was."

Marijuana became an issue at this year's Winter Olympic Games when traces of pot were found in Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati's urine sample.

The International Olympic Committee stripped the Whistler, British Columbia, resident of the gold medal he won in the men's giant slalom even though Rebagliati claimed he was a victim of second-hand smoke.

The IOC's decision was later overturned and the medal reinstated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled there was no clear provision for marijuana testing at the Olympic Games.

Embarrassed by the fiasco, the IOC's executive board agreed in April to draft new provisions in the Olympic Charter and the IOC medical code. IOC officials said marijuana would be added to the banned list and any athletes testing positive for the drug would be disqualified.

Haigh said the Commonweath Games Federation follows the IOC rules, but to date marijuana has not officially been named a banned substance.

"Since it is not at present listed as a banned substance, we are following last year's list, if you like," he said.

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