MARIJUANA PENALTY SHOULD HAVE STOOD

NAGANO, Japan -- If David Stern ever decides to retire as NBA commissioner,
there will be a job waiting for him on the International Olympic Committee.
Or if there's no vacancy there, he could always work for the International
Ski Federation (FIS). Stern would fit right in. The NBA, IOC and FIS all
have the same limp-vertebrae policy regarding marijuana.

It took Ross Rebagliati, a Canadian snowboarder, to expose the loophole in
the IOC's drug policy. He won a gold medal for snowboarding in the giant
slalom and tested positive for marijuana afterward, so the IOC wanted the
gold back.

Canada appealed the IOC decision. Officials argued that the IOC's policy on
"social" drugs is to defer to the international federation that governs the
sport of the busted athlete. In Rebagliati's case, that was the FIS. And
the FIS rules state that penalties "may" be imposed if a skier tests
positive for marijuana.

The amount of pot found in the blood of Rebagliati was minimal. He admitted
to having smoked marijuana regularly until last April. He said he had
tested positive because he had inhaled second-hand marijuana smoke at a
party his friends threw for him before he left for the Olympics. He said
his exposure to the second-hand smoke had come over an "extended" period of
time.

Japanese police questioned him. They searched his bags and his room and
found no pot. They believed his story. And he got his medal back.

This morning, at a news confer ence, he promised that he had learned a
great deal from the experience. He said he would now take an anti-drug
stance. That sounded well and good, but when asked for details of exactly
how he planned to do it, he revealed that he had learned nothing at all.

"I'm not going to change my friends for you," he told reporters. "I might
have to wear a gas mask around them."

He said this while wearing his gold medal around his neck. Someone should
have snatched it from him then and there.

Either you have a drug policy or you don't. Olympic athletes are not
allowed to take some cold medicines because they contain drugs considered
performance-enhancing. You can have your gold medal taken away for taking
Sudafed, but if you admit to being a habitual marijuana smoker, they hold a
news conference to celebrate finding a loophole in the drug policy.

I couldn't help but think about Allen Iverson as I listened to Rebagliati
make a fool out of himself this morning.

Iverson was pulled over by a cop on an interstate in Virginia. He was a
passenger in his own car. The driver had been speeding, and the police
officer found a couple of joints under the passenger seat. Iverson said
the marijuana didn't belong to him.

Not many people believed him. Automatically, everybody assumed the worst of
Iverson. Young black man and marijuana equals guilt.

Rebagliati, young white man from the Canadian resort town of Whistler,
admitted to smoking pot -- though he stopped long enough to compete in the
Olympics -- and admitted having been at a party in his honor where there
was so much smoke in the air that someone could get high just from
breathing. Most people assumed that he was a victim of second-hand smoke.

Most Olympic athletes pay supreme sacrifices to get to the Games. Real
athletes -- and snowboarders don't fall into this category -- spend untold
hours training, getting themselves into mega-shape. They are away from
families and friends for months at a time while they train. They make these
sacrifices for the chance to compete at the Games.

The only sacrifice Rebagliati made is to give up smoking dope for 10
months. But he wouldn't even take the small step of staying out of a room
when his pals were lighting up.

Young people make mistakes. Rebagliati said that this morning at his news
conference. He said, rightly, that bad things happen for good reasons, that
lessons are learned.

What exactly had he learned? That, as an athlete, he should take an
anti-drug stand. Yes. He said he would do that. But he refused to send that
message to his closest friends.

Only his first Olympics and he's already in the hypocritical flow of
things. The kid has a future.

So what, exactly, have we learned from this? That "social" drugs "may" be
illegal in the Olympics.

That is an unworkable policy. Either drugs are legal or they're not. And if
they are illegal, then testing positive for even a small amount must mean
disqualification.

Taking the gold medal away from Rebagliati was a tough penalty for what
sounds like a youthful misjudgment. But it was the right thing to do.

Giving it back, as we witnessed this morning, just reinforced the
impression Rebagliati has that a lifestyle that involves regular exposure
to drugs is accepted in the Olympic community.

And that's just plain wrong.

c1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.