OLYMPIC BAN

I have been trying to understand the reasons for the International Olympics
Committee's decision to add cannabis to the list of proscribed drugs for
which Olympic athletes will be tested.

It cannot be because cannabis is "performance enhancing". It isn't. On the
contrary, cannabis is a relaxing recreational drug that inhibits performance
of any kind. If the IOC wants an all-inclusive list of performance-enhancing
drugs it should have added tea and coffee to its list, not to mention
chocolate.

It cannot be simply because cannabis is illegal in some countries, because
that logic would oblige the IOC to ban both alcohol and female athletes. It
cannot be to avoid offending the domestic legislation of host countries,
because it would not offend in all such countries. Besides, athletes are
bound to obey the domestic legislation of their host country, regardless of
any IOC rule.

Clearly, this decision reflects a personal obsession on the part of key IOC
members. This obsession is with the separate question of the war on illegal
recreational drugs. It has nothing to do with the global campaign against
performance-enhancing drugs in sport.

The war against illegal drugs is contentious, not universal and certainly
does not enjoy unqualified public support. It is a battle which shows every
sign of being very expensively lost. The campaign against
performance-enhancing drugs in sport is global, universally approved and
opposed only by cheats.

By irrationally mixing the two campaigns, the IOC has delivered a severe
blow to what is left of the ideals of Pierre de Coubertin. As we lose the
war against illegal drugs, the public perception of sporting drugs will be
changed and eventually that will be lost as well, to the great regret of far
more people than the short-sighted IOC.

Gerard Mulholland Paris, France.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"