SOMEBODY HAD TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

What Is It With Canadians And Drugs?

Here we are, leaders in the field of anti-doping promotion and detection.
Yet somehow we always manage to drop our pants in public. Ben Johnson. Ross
Rebagliati. And now Eric Lamaze.

Yes, there are countries doing the dirty deed far more often than us -- or
so we like to believe. But how are we supposed to be taken seriously as a
nation leading the fight against doping in sports if we sanctimoniously wag
our fingers at the cheaters, then in turn go to bat for those in the
red-and-white who break the rules?

Rebagliati, our pot-toking skiboarder from Nagano, should have lost the gold
medal. He tested positive for use of marijuana, a banned substance. End of
story.

Don't talk to me about how it is almost socially acceptable now and how pot
is no more dangerous than beer.

That's not the point.

He knew the rules and he broke them. If you don't like those rules, then
change them. But while they are in place, you live by them. You don't send
the Canadian Olympic Association off to fight some boardroom battle that
makes us all look like jerks.

Now we have Lamaze, busted for using cocaine, appealing to the COA to let
him compete in Sydney following the lifting of a lifetime competition ban
handed down by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

Fortunately, the Canadian Olympic Association this morning declined to allow
Lemaze to compete, saying he breached the standard athlete's agreement by
taking drugs.

A little background: On Aug. 18, the CCES banned Lamaze for life after a
test taken July 22 at a tournament showed traces of ephedrine, a banned
stimulant found in diet drugs and medicines.

After arguing to the CCES that he had taken a diet supplement mislabelled by
the manufacturer, Lamaze was cleared of the ephedrine penalty on Aug. 24,
but was given a warning. On Aug. 29 Lamaze was checked again, this time
resulting in a positive test for cocaine -- not for the first time, either.
He was dropped from the 1996 Olympics team for cocaine use also.

So what does he do? He gets a lawyer, the threat implicit: Let me compete or
we're going to court.

Lamaze's lawyer, Tim Danson, argued at a hearing Saturday that Lamaze was so
distraught over the lifetime ban for ephedrine Aug. 18 that he took cocaine
the next day.

"I lost control of everything," Lamaze, a one-time cocaine addict, said at a
news conference. "It was like the sky fell in on me. I do take full
responsibility for my actions, but what happened was very devastating to me.
What happened after that was an out-of-control situation."

An adjudicator ruled that Lamaze's lifetime ban should be lifted, after
accepting the athlete's explanation for the "exceptional circumstances"
surrounding last month's positive drug test.

There is no doubt that Lamaze's story is a sad one, tragic in many ways.
Lamaze, 32, was born to a cocaine-addicted mother. He doesn't know his
father. He was raised in Montreal by an alcoholic grandmother while his
mother served time in prison for drug dealing.

At 14, Lamaze was supporting himself through riding. He has only a Grade 8
education. He has struggled in the past with cocaine addiction.

But does a tough life excuse you from living by the rules? It shouldn't.

Yes, you can make a case that others beat the system. Sprinter Merlene Ottey
and high jumper Javier Sotamayor did. Why not Lamaze?

Several reasons. Basing a case on the misguided actions of others puts us on
a slippery slope. Do we really wish our anti-doping stand to be guided by
what happens in Jamaica or Cuba?

In Canada, international athletes sign a contract with the COA in which they
promise not to use performance enhancing or illegal drugs. Whether you can
argue cocaine is performance enhancing remains open for debate. But it is
certainly illegal. And now Lamaze isn't going to be allowed to compete in
Sydney.

In all seriousness, someone had to step up and say enough is enough.