TRIBUNAL TAKES HARD LINE ON DOPE

Sports people be warned. If you are passed a joint, move it on. In
fact, it would pay to exit the room to prevent inhaling passive
smoke, because the penalties for testing positive to cannabis have
just got tougher.

The Sports Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand, which determines
penalties for positive drug tests for the majority of national
sporting bodies, has informed national associations that it will take
a tougher stance on sportspeople who test positive to cannabis for
the first time.

In the past the tribunal has generally, for a first offence, given a
warning and a reprimand to athletes.

Last Friday the tribunal sent a letter to national associations
informing them that in future a first offence for a positive cannabis
test was likely to attract a one-month suspension.

The release, signed by the chairman of SDTNZ, Barry Paterson, said
the tribunal reserved the right to weight the suspension depending on
circumstances, but a first offence would likely attract a suspension
equivalent to one month of ordinary competition.

The release said the tribunal would try to ensure a consistent
approach so that cases were treated in similar fashion.

Paterson, a retired High Court judge, could not be contacted
yesterday. But it appears the tribunal has reviewed its sanctions for
cannabis use since issuing a warning and reprimand to New Zealand
basketball representative Mark Dickel after he tested positive for
cannabis two weeks before the world championships in Japan in August.

Dickel was suspended for two games by Basketball New Zealand and
subsequently reprimanded by the SDTNZ.

But Fiba, the international basketball federation, took a different
view. After he arrived in Japan Dickel was suspended for a further
three games by Fiba, which felt the initial punishment was insufficient.

Graeme Steel, the executive director of Drug Free Sport New Zealand,
said penalties were up to the tribunal to determine within the
requirements of Wada, the international sports drug body. "They (the
tribunal) seem to be saying now, 'The message isn't getting through',
and it's their prerogative where they want to pitch offences." DFSNZ
has previously said that it is against sanctions for cannabis use if
it is not performance-enhancing.

"We'll continue to go through official channels to comment on the
list of drugs and present our views," said Steel.

Meanwhile, the tribunal announced yesterday that a 15-year-old
national boxing champion, Kerry Nathan, had been warned and
reprimanded after testing positive to cannabis.

The tribunal noted that Nathan's offence occurred in August, before
its review of penalties for the drug was announced last week. She was
therefore entitled to be treated using the same principles that
applied in earlier cases.

Nathan was tested after she won the New Zealand women's 72kg title at
the national championships in Rotorua on August 30.

She stepped up to the senior division because there was no opposition
in her junior division.

The tribunal said it accepted that she did not use the drug to
enhance her performance. She told the tribunal she smoked cannabis at
a cousin's birthday two weeks before the tournament and had not
considered the consequences of her actions.

Nathan will be stripped of her national title and all medals and
prizes won at the championships. Steel said it was "no fun" for DFSNZ
to have to deal with a 15-year-old. "We decided to test the winner of
that event and it was her ... she was competing as a senior, so there
was no way we could cut her any slack."