Pubdate: Thu, 09 Aug 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

BLOWING A HOLE IN MARIJUANA BAN

The news that scientists are questioning the sense behind including 
marijuana on the World Anti Doping Agency's list of substances banned 
for sports purposes doesn't surprise us one bit.

As a Reuters news agency story points out, there are few 
knowledgeable folks out there who think pot can do much to enhance 
the kind of athleticism that Olympians strive for. Indeed, there's 
evidence to suggest it could have a negative impact, doing everything 
from slowing reaction times to interfering with visual perception.

In fact, some British Columbians may well be wondering whether the 
referee in that heartbreaking Canada-U.S. soccer game wasn't smoking 
something, so blurred was her vision and flawed her decision-making.

David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial 
College London, is one of several experts who say they can't think of 
any sport in which marijuana would be an advantage. "And it seems 
ludicrous that someone could quite legally smoke cannabis in 
Amsterdam in the morning and then come over to London in the 
afternoon and be banned from competing," Nutt told Reuters.

So the expulsion of American judoka Nick Delpopolo from the London 
Olympics this week after he tested positive for marijuana - which, he 
suggests, was baked into a brownie he'd unwittingly eaten - sounds a 
little like, well, yester-day's news. After all, don't sports 
drug-testers have enough to worry about chasing down serious cheaters 
who use steroids and other non-recreational drugs to tease their 
testosterone levels and pump up their muscles? We think so.

Now, some say that marijuana could be helpful in sports like shooting 
or golf where a steady hand is needed. More likely, though, it has 
the exact opposite effect.

As far as we can tell, potheads are not particularly successful at 
taking pot shots - except, perhaps, at the police.
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