CFL READY FOR DRUG TESTING POLICY

Commissioner Will Discuss Historic Move With Player Reps Here

EDMONTON - The Canadian Football League is planning to test players
for drugs for the first time in its history.

Commissioner Tom Wright will meet with representatives of the players'
association next week in Edmonton to discuss a program that would
include testing, education and rehabilitation for athletes with addictions.

Most major professional sports leagues in North America already have
formal drug policies. The National Basketball Association, National
Football League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and
the Arena Football League all have drug policies in place.

"Maybe our heads are in the sand, but we think we're ahead of the
high-priced, high-salaried leagues as far as the degree of the
problem," said Edmonton Eskimos president Hugh Campbell.

"We think we have less of a problem drug-wise with our players, just
because they make less money.

"I would not be surprised if there were some drugs on every football
team. But I would be surprised if it's out of control on any one of
the football teams in the CFL at this time. I'm not downplaying it.
We're concerned. And we're working on it."

At the Grey Cup last November, Eskimos rush end Rahim Abdullah
admitted to taking ephedra, a herbal stimulant, before suffering a
coronary blood clot that nearly killed him after a game in July 2002.

Later that year, Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive lineman Mike Mihelic
was charged with drug offences after police discovered a sophisticated
lab in Ontario that produced steroids and grew marijuana.

The CFL will require consent from the players to implement a drug
testing program. And Wright insists the league won't go ahead without
approval from its athletes.

"That's not the way I do business," Wright said. "It's not all about
catching people who are abusing substances. It's about education,
awareness and training.

"I think any drug usage in our league is very minimal. But that
doesn't mean we can't take a leadership initiative on this so we're
not reacting if something happens."

Professional sports leagues around the world are grappling with drug
issues, especially after the discovery of a new designer steroid
called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.

Dozens of athletes, ranging from baseball slugger Barry Bonds to
Olympic track star Marion Jones to boxer Shane Mosley, appeared before
a federal grand jury in November and December in connection with an
investigation of a lab that supplies top athletes with nutritional
supplements. Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler died last year
from heat stroke linked to ephedra. That prompted the U.S. government
to ban sales of the herbal supplement effective April 12, 2004.

Most CFL players realize the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs,
said Eskimos linebacker Sheldon Benoit, a team representative for the
CFL Players Association. "I believe you are better off to use the
tools that God has given you."

But the league must protect the identity of players who test positive,
Benoit said. The average salary in the CFL hovers around $48,000. Many
players hold down jobs outside of football. "If a guy gets his name in
the paper for drug use, he may not be able to work in another career
down the road."

The CFL is considering applying for a federal government grant to help
fund the testing and develop a low-cost screening program that could
be used by other leagues in Canada.

"We're a small business," Campbell said. "It's embarrassing to say
this, but maybe our league can't afford the testing."

"If this is important to our league and the integrity of the product
on the field, then I think we would find the money to do it," Wright
said. "And I think it is."