TESTING FOR RIGHT AND WRONG REASONS

If Rasheed Wallace was the poster child for the poor attitude and bad
behavior the Portland Trail Blazers became known for the last few
years, then Damon Stoudamire is surely the icon of the team's
just-as-prominent marijuana problem.

Stoudamire was arrested three times in 18 months on marijuana
possession charges, the most recent of which came when he tried to
carry tin foil-wrapped weed onto a plane in Tucson, Ariz., last summer.

After that incident, he entered a rehab program and came out on the
other side proclaiming himself pot-free before the season began.

John Canzano, a columnist for The Oregonian newspaper in Portland,
told Stoudamire he didn't believe him and challenged him to a random
drug test at some point during the season.

Nine days ago, Canzano showed up at a Blazers practice and asked
Stoudamire to take a drug test. The test checks for a number of
illegal substances and can detect marijuana up to 28 days after its
use.

Stoudamire took the test and came up clean.

The response has ranged from condemnation by the players union to
praise from Blazers fans to other columnists using Stoudamire as an
example when trying to coerce Barry Bonds or Jason Giambi into taking
a steroids test.

First, let's not confuse Stoudamire's documented problems with weed
(one conviction and three arrests) with the perceived problems with
steroids of some baseball stars (hitting lots of home runs).

And lets not equate smoking pot with juicing up on anabolic steroids,
either. Really, the only thing the two have in common is that they are
illegal, except for certain medical uses.

There is a reason steroids are called performance enhancing and
marijuana is not. Unless your sport involves lengthy discussions on
the real meaning of Pink Floyd's "The Wall," figuring out who exactly
The Eggmen and The Walrus were and staring open-mouthed at a loop of
The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" video, all over a multi-course
meal of Cheetos, Twinkies, Krispy Kremes and chocolate milk, then pot
won't help you perform any better, it will just make your weekend more
entertaining and will likely be a detriment to you
athletically.

Stoudamire proclaimed to God and the media that he was no longer
smoking marijuana, and asked us all to believe him and forgive him
despite having no credibility to do so. Taking and passing a random,
public drug test re-establishes him as a man of his word, and may have
earned him a contract extension with Portland rather than the first
train out of town when he becomes a free agent.

Baseball players - and other athletes - facing questions about steroid
use are in a completely different situation.

For the most part, there is no substantial proof of impropriety, just
guilt-by-association for those connected with BALCO and the suspicious
growth by two hat sizes in their mid-30s.

There is no compelling reason why these guys should submit to a public
drug test, as has been demanded by some, like Sports Illustrated's
Rick Reilly.

Though I applaud the Stoudamire-Canzano dance for the reasons specific
to Stoudamire's case, this can't be used to bang the drum for more
players volunteering for testing.

Doing so fosters an environment of guilty until proven innocent, not
to mention asking players to surrender their Fourth Amendment rights.
Go ahead and ask a journalist to willingly give up their First
Amendment rights and see what kind of a reaction you get.

Even Canzano wrote, "The saying goes: Those who have nothing to hide,
hide nothing."

That's awfully sanctimonious, isn't it? What's next, asking players if
they're now, or have they ever been, a member of the Communist Party?

I also suppose it wasn't too surprising for the NBA Players
Association to condemn Stoudamire for taking the test. This is, after
all, a union that caved on every major point of contention during the
1998-99 lockout, including a tighter salary cap and maximum salaries,
in order to keep marijuana off the banned substances list.

In the end, Stoudamire's breaking away from union policy to take the
test is great for him as an individual (he clears his name), great for
the Portland franchise (some good P.R. after years of shooting itself
in the foot), but bad for testing in general.

Now the media will not rest until every player some reporter or
columnist or talking head suspects of being juiced relieves himself
into a cup for public scrutiny. It is up to the individual sports to
regulate their players, not some journalist turned medical expert who
thinks somebody is using steroids.