Anti-doping agency defends stance on cannabis

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has defended the continued inclusion of cannabis on its prohibited list of substances following criticism that the ban is placing unnecessary strain on sporting federations.

IAAF council member and Spanish athletics federation president Jose Maria Odriozola raised concern about the cannabis ban on Sunday during a round table discussion on "borderline issues" at an international anti-doping symposium organised by the world athletics governing body.

According to Odriozola, federations are "wasting considerable time and money, dealing with what is essentially a recreational non-performance-enhancing drug."

Odriozola's comments were firmly rejected by WADA's director of science, Olivier Rabin.

"We have three criteria for including something on our list of prohibited substances and methods, at least two of which have to be met -- performance enhancement, possible health dangers and a contravention of the spirit of sport," Rabin told Reuters.

"We know full well that cannabis can alleviate feelings of fear which can help performance in some sports.

"It is also risky for athletes and others around them as it can cause a distortion of perception and we also believe it violates the spirit of sport even though we understand it is mainly a social drug."

In a high-profile case concerning cannabis, Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati was temporarily deprived of his 1998 Olympic giant slalom gold medal after traces of marijuana were found in his body.

Rebagliati claimed he had inhaled the drug "passively" but his medal was only returned to him after it was pointed out that cannabis was not actually banned at the time.

"We think it is now clear to athletes that cannabis is prohibited," Rabin said.

"We can very clearly distinguish between active and passive smoking and with our current thresholds we are clearly targeting the active users of cannabis and cannabinoids.

"If we detect levels above these thresholds then we are telling athletes that will be considered an adverse analytical finding with potential sanctions.

"Because cannabis is listed as a specified (banned in competition) substance there is still the possibility that an athlete may first face a reprimand rather than a sanction."

Cannabis has been included on WADA's list of banned substances and methods since the list's creation in 2004.

It remains on the new version of the annually-revised list which was approved by WADA's executive committee last month and comes into force on January 1.

- REUTERS