Pubdate: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 Source: Scotsman (UK) Contact: http://www.scotsman.com/ TESTING OF ATHLETES FOR MARIJUANA Sir, - I have been trying to understand the reasons for the International Olympics Committee's decision to add marijuana to the list of prescribed drugs for which Olympic athletes will be tested. It cannot be because it is performance-enhancing, because it is not. On the contrary, it is a recreational drug that is notorious for relaxing users and inhibiting performance of any kind. If the IOC wants an all-inclusive list of performance-enhancing drugs, it should have added tea and coffee to its list, not to mention chocolate! It cannot be simply because marijuana is illegal in some countries (although not all), because that logic would oblige the IOC also to ban both alcohol and female athletes. It cannot be to avoid offending the domestic legislation of host countries, because it would not offend in all such, and, besides, athletes are bound to obey the domestic legislation of their host country, regardless of any IOC rule. Clearly, this decision reflects a personal obsession on the part of some IOC members, including, apparently, the president. This obsession is with the completely separate question of the war on illegal recreational drugs. It has nothing to do with the global campaign against performance-enhancing drugs in sport. The war on illegal drugs is contentious, not universal, and certainly does not enjoy unqualified public support anywhere. It is a war which shows every sign of being very expensively lost. The campaign against performance-enhancing drugs in sport is global, universally approved and opposed only by cheats. By irrationally mixing the two campaigns, the IOC has delivered a severe blow to what is left of the ideals of Pierre de Coubertin. As the war on illegal drugs is lost, the public perception of the sporting drugs will now be changed, and, eventually, that will be lost as well, to the great regret of far more people than the short-sighted IOC. Gerard Mulholland Avenue Franklin Roosevelt Chevilly-Larue, France