expelled from Olympics for doping

An American judo athlete has been disqualified from the London Games because he tested positive for doping with marijuana.

Marijuana is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of performance enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids and stimulants. A substance appears on the WADA's banned list if it meets the following criteria: it is proven to be performance enhancing, it goes against the spirit of sport, or it is dangerous to the health of athletes.

Caffeine is a stimulant, and it's not banned. Alcohol and cigarettes are dangerous to the health of athletes, but they're not banned. So cannabis's inclusion on the list is arbitrary. And silly.

WADA would have more credibility by enforcing the steroid ban and ignoring cannabis. After all, the lazy unmotivated potheads will surely lose and the clean athletes will win all the gold medals.

There's a reason they call it, "DOPE".

Quote: reno

An American judo athlete has been disqualified from the London Games because he tested positive for doping with marijuana.

Next time you are in downtown Vegas watch out that you don't get a judo kick from one of the athletes in training all around you.

Quote: reno

WADA would have more credibility by enforcing the steroid ban and ignoring cannabis. After all, the lazy unmotivated potheads will surely lose and the clean athletes will win all the gold medals.

Sure, but a rule is a rule. He knew the rules before hand and it was his responsibility not to ingest marijuana. If his friend actually gave him baked items with marijuana (I read that somewhere), then that is the worst or stupidest friend on the planet.

The problem with the article, and which you quoted, is that the definition of the WADA's prohibition requirements are inaccurate. For example, as you quoted, the article states:

Quote: Poorly Researched Article

At the moment, a substance appears on the banned list if it meets the following criteria: it is proven to be performance enhancing, it goes against the spirit of sport, or it is dangerous to the health of athletes.

while the truth of the matter, as per the WADA is:

Quote: WADA

A substance or method shall be considered for inclusion on the Prohibited List if WADA determines that the substance or method meets any two of the following three criteria:

with the following further explanation:

Quote: WADA

if the substance is a masking agent or meets two of the following three criteria: (1) it has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance; (2) it represents a potential or actual health risk; or (3) it is contrary to the spirit of sport. None of the three criteria alone is a sufficient basis for adding a substance to the Prohibited List. Using the potential to enhance performance as the sole criterion would include, for example, physical and mental training, red meat, carbohydrate loading and training at altitude. Risk of harm would include smoking. Requiring all three criteria would also be unsatisfactory. For example, the Use of genetic transfer technology to dramatically enhance sport performance should be prohibited as contrary to the spirit of sport even if it is not harmful. Similarly, the potentially unhealthy abuse of certain substances without therapeutic justification based on the mistaken belief they enhance performance is certainly contrary to the spirit of sport regardless of whether the expectation of performance enhancement is realistic.

Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine meet one of the criteria, but not two. Obviously, the WADA felt, for some reason (see below), that cannabis met two of the criteria.

Another thing that is misleading is that while there is certainly a prohibited list, the WADA also maintains a Monitoring list, which is a list of items that they feel are worth keeping an eye on to detect for it's possible future inclusion on the prohibited list. Caffeine and Nicotine are both on the list. Obviously, it doesn't mean that an athlete can't use nicotine or caffeine, but it's a strong indicator that the athlete should at least be moderate in its use because it could be added to the list at a future time, and the athlete isn't going to want to impair their ability to compete in the future.

Another important issue is that the WADA actually maintains two lists of prohibited items/methods. Those that are prohibited all the time, and those that are prohibited while actually in competition. Cannabis falls into the latter category. In other words, a person can be a recreational marijuana smoker in their off time, but they better be clean by the time competition comes around.

My complaint with the WADA is that while they have a great extensive list of prohibited items, they don't list the reasons (ie, which 2 of the 3 criteria the item meets) for those items being on the prohibited list. It would be interesting to know which of the 2 criteria they feel cannabis falls into.

" If his friend actually gave him baked items with marijuana (I read that somewhere), then that is the worst or stupidest friend on the planet. "

No, the stupidest friend on earth would be anyone who believes this lame excuse.


DAMN. Have to go now, the dog just ate my homework !

Quote: konceptum

Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine meet one of the criteria, but not two.

Hey konceptum, thanks for the clarification. Perhaps being stoned on marijuana during competition is contrary to the spirit of the sport, but by that logic so is being drunk on alcohol during competition.

The (incorrect) article also mentioned that "some experts say [cannabis] could prove helpful in sports like shooting or golf where a steady hand is needed." I'm VERY skeptical that golfers perform better after smoking marijuana. Are there any golfers on this forum who can confirm this?

My putter always works better after smoking a joint.