Pubdate: Wed, 20 Jun 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Susan Lazaruk

SMOKING CUSTODY BATTLE HEATS UP

Estranged Wife Accuses Olympic Gold Medallist of Using Pot While Caring for Son

Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Ross Rebagliati is in a bitter 
divorce fight with the mother of their toddler with allegations of 
his marijuana use at the forefront of a custody battle.

Alexandra Rebagliati, 33, a Kelowna real-estate agent, has accused 
Rebagliati - who was briefly stripped of his 1998 Winter Olympics 
gold medal after infamously testing positive for marijuana after the 
race - of smoking pot around their three-year-old son, of whom they 
share custody, according to an interim agreement in January.

Alexandra said in a filed affidavit that after the court ordered Ross 
not to use illegal drugs while caring for their son, the boy came 
home from his father's home mimicking Ross's smoking by holding his 
fist to his mouth and saying, "Look, mommy, I smoking," according to 
an online report.

Alexandra said Ross "smokes marijuana on a daily basis" and that it 
affects his thinking and "presents a negative role model for the 
child," according to the custody agreement.

The mother even paid to have her son's hair tested for "cannabinoids" 
at a private clinic and the positive results will likely be used in 
court to bolster the mom's bid for primary custody.

She also said she begged Ross to quit smoking during their seven-year 
marriage and often threw out his marijuana stash, which he would 
retrieve from the garbage.

Ross, 40, who now lives in Whistler with his new girlfriend, who was 
pregnant in January, admitted to the court he smokes marijuana "to 
soothe his painful joints" but not daily. He agreed to comply with 
the court order but didn't promise to quit using marijuana.

His lawyers, Lorne MacLean and Lena Ronak Yousefi, in an email to The 
Province on Tuesday said,

"Mr. Rebagliati will not litigate what is best for the parties' son 
in the media" but questioned the hair-test results.

"Mr. Rebagliati is very concerned about the validity of the alleged 
test results and is making it a priority to get to the bottom of how 
his son could have tested positive for low levels of marijuana in or 
on his hair and the methodology and background to how this test was conducted."

Joey Gareri of Motherisk drug-testing lab at the Hospital for Sick 
Children in Toronto said a positive result on the test could mean the 
child is frequently exposed to marijuana smoke by a caregiver or the 
hair could be contaminated by hand to hair contact.

"It has to come from somewhere," he said.

When Ross lost the world's first snowboarding Olympic gold med-al 
after testing positive for marijuana, he denied smoking pot, blaming 
the results on second-hand expo-sure to marijuana smoke at Whistler 
parties he attended. The medal was returned to him because marijuana 
wasn't listed by the Olympics as a banned substance.

The nasty battle leading up to the couple's divorce trial date 
includes an affidavit, received by The Province, from Ross's 
ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Friesen, alleging he was a "chronic marijuana 
user," smoking three to four joints a day from 2001 to 2004, when they dated.

"Throughout our relationship, Ross could not get out of bed with-out 
smoking weed to function and he could not sleep at night unless he 
smoked an entire joint," she said.

The judge's interim ruling granted the couple equal access of two 
weeks each a month, despite the mother's assertion that the child's 
best interests were served by following a routine at his Kelowna 
daycare, with periodic access by Ross.

He also agreed Alexandra's concern about Ross's marijuana use is 
"well-founded."

"A child should not be placed in circumstances in which the 
respondent [Ross] regularly breaks Canadian criminal law," he said, 
and the "intoxicating effect of marijuana" on parenting ability is a concern.

But in the end, he ruled he was satisfied Ross is a "caring and 
capable father to the boy" and that the child can do well with two 
routines, in Kelowna and Whistler.

The couple also were seeking child support from one another. They 
married in 2004 and separated in 2010. Alexandra made $112,000 in her 
real-estate career in 2011 and Ross's taxable income in 2010 was 
$3,500, according to documents.

In his ruling, the judge noted that Ross didn't attend the hearing 
and also noted Alexandra "was unable to contain herself. Her 
behaviour was disrespectful and disruptive. I will assume that 
wishing to not participate in or be the target of outbursts from 
[Alexandra] was at least one of the reasons [Ross] did not attend."
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