MARIJUANA NOT BANNED SUBSTANCE FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES TESTS

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.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett