PANEL MEETING TO DECIDE FATE OF REBAGLIATI

NAGANO, Japan An arbitration panel met Wednesday to decide whether to
return a gold medal to a Canadian snowboarder or to uphold the
International Olympic Committee's decision to take the medal away because
the athlete tested positive for marijuana.

No decision had been reached by Wednesday night.

Ross Rebagliati had his gold-medal-winning performance nullified after the
IOC's medical commission voted 13-12 and the IOC's executive board voted
3-2 against him.

The Canadian Olympic Association appealed, noting that the rules of the
International ski federation say that a penalty may be imposed for a
positive marijuana test but do not stipulate a penalty is mandatory.

"Is, or should, the IOC be a social police force?" said Carol Ann Letheren,
an IOC member from Canada. "That is the question around this drug."

There has long been a debate in the IOC about whether marijuana should be
on the banned substances list, because It is not generally considered a
performance-enhancing drug, as are anabolic steroids.

"If it's not performance enhancing, and it's a social drug, you wonder why
it is included," said an IOC official who spoke on the condition of
anonymity. "But it's a question of do you follow the rules or don't you?
How do you tell your children not to use drugs and then say it's OK if it's
a gold medalist."

The case has spawned both wicked humor and serious interest by the Japanese
police. Kyodo, the Japanese news service, said that the Japanese police
would question Rebagliati and would ask the IOC to turn over the results of
his drug test.

Possession of marijuana can carry a Sentence of up to five years in jail,
Kyodo reported