TIME FOR CFL TO MAKE DRUG POLICY A PRIORITY

League's Procrastination Irks WADA Chairman

EDMONTON - A generation of kids was told 'just say no' to drugs.

The Canadian Football League has chosen to just say whatever is most
convenient. So, when the venerable old league was attacked Wednesday
by World Anti-Doping Agency chair Dick Pound, they said he's way off
base when he calls it "a summer camp for NFL players who have been
suspended for drug use." And they said they are working on an
anti-doping policy in conjunction with the CFL Players Association.

It had better be the most comprehensive program in the world of
sport, because the CFL has said since the early 1990s that they are
working with the CFLPA on it. How soon might we actually see it implemented?

"There is no set timetable for the CFL to announce a drug policy,"
said Perry Lefko, the league's director of communications. "It is
something that has been investigated and will continue to be investigated."

It won't be announced before Tom Wright serves his final day as the
league's 15th commissioner. And it won't be high-profile enough for
his successor to tackle immediately. It has always been, and may
always be a secondary or tertiary issue for the CFL, trailing the
financial health of the league, the upgrading of its officials,
adopting a new logo or changing its balls. It is easy to argue in
favour of such a pecking order, at least the top item, but eventually
the CFL has to develop a social conscience and jump off its wallet to
fund a program that most other pro sports leagues have found
necessary. Which brings us to one of their favourite fallback
positions on anti-doping; they say it's too expensive for a
cash-strapped league.

"I just say sorry, for the integrity of the game and the health of
your players, you've got to have it," Pound said during an interview
at his Montreal office on Jan. 11. "A dollar a ticket, max. It's not
that expensive."

The league announced a record attendance figure of 2.3 million fans in 2005.

A surcharge of 50 cents per ticket would have generated $1.15
million, more than enough to fund the program for a season. I'm
pretty sure fans wouldn't howl too much at the increase, since it's
in the best interests of society to promote drug-free sport.

And in the case of such a small entity like the CFL, which employs
perhaps 600 players in any given year, it's not that hard to operate.
WADA conducts testing for smaller member federations all over the
world on a cost-recovery basis, meaning they don't make a profit.
What if the CFL came looking for the same deal?

"For the CFL? On a cost recovery basis we certainly would (conduct
testing)," Pound said.

But the CFL would also have to adopt WADA's extensive list of banned
substances and its punishment guidelines. So far, the CFL has shown
no burning desire to accept either, leaving itself wide open to
criticism, which Pound is happy to supply. Part of his mandate is
promoting awareness of anti-doping causes and he does it by
generating headlines. He raised the hackles of the National Hockey
League by stating one-third of its 700 players use performance
enhancers. He has long been critical of the U.S. Track and Field
Association for hiding athletes' positive drug tests. The
foot-dragging CFL presents an obvious target for his sharp tongue.

"It has reached the point where we have to talk about it to get (the
CFL's) attention, to say, 'Is there anything on our list you think
your players should be able to take?' " he said in January. "Or let's
say you decide a two-year sanction is too much. OK, I can understand
you have some people in the system that may come with some baggage.
But over a five-year period let's ramp up to it, so you have a game
that is pure and nobody is cheating."

What they have now is tacit acceptance of steroids, stimulants,
amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine. What they have is an
irresponsible bylaw that allows NFLers to run away from drug-related
suspensions and play in Canada. What they have is the same problem
they had two decades ago. Craig Shaffer, a linebacker on the 1987
Eskimos, admitted in 1994 to playing CFL games with cocaine in his
system. He and teammate Tom Tuinei admitted using steroids and both
players later did jail time for drug-related offences. A year after
another Eskimo John Mandarich died of cancer in 1993, then GM Hugh
Campbell said he knew Mandarich was using steroids in 1987 but teams
weren't in the habit of forcing players to stop.

Every team in the CFL has similar history but there is still nothing
in the collective bargaining agreement with its players that
addresses the issue of anti-doping. Doug Mitchell was CFL
commissioner in 1986 when Eskimo Hec Pothier's arrest and suspension
for hashish possession sparked more debate but no action on doping.

"The players association was opposed to a drug policy in those days,"
Mitchell said. "How close did we come to having one? I don't think we
came very close."

The players have to take their lumps on this issue, but the league
has had nine commissioners since Mitchell and not one has made it a
priority. In two decades there has been enough seen and heard to
warrant a policy. Just do it.