WHEELCHAIR TENNIS PLAYER BANNED FOR USING DAGGA

A US wheelchair tennis player has been handed a three-month ban by
the International Tennis Federation after failing a drug test.

David Buck, 46, from Silverado, California, was found by an
independent anti-doping tribunal to have tested positive for dagga in
a sample provided at the US Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in
San Diego on October 6.

Dagga (cannabis) is classified by the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme as
a specified substance.

Under the code, the use of a specified substance, when there was no
intention to enhance performance, carries a minimum penalty of a
warning and a maximum of one year's ineligibility.

The tribunal found that there had been no intent in this case to
enhance performance by the taking of dagga, but added that this case
was, "regrettably, one of deliberate commission of a doping offence",
because the player had not denied that he knew that dagga was a
specified substance, had failed to apply for a therapeutic use
exemption and had continued to participate in competitions.

The tribunal confirmed the commission of a doping offence and
determined that Buck should be banned.