Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, head of the Japan Sumo Association and former sumo star of the 1970s, stepped down after two wrestlers were accused of smoking marijuana only weeks after a third was sacked for possession of the same drug. [Telegraph [8]]
I’ve never understood why anyone cares if athletes use marijuana. If you’re concerned about the message it sends, then tell ‘em you won’t test for it as long as they stay off the cover of High Times. Why create opportunities for your athletes to embarrass you? Just don’t test them; it’s that easy. And if they get caught with it, just be glad it wasn’t crack.
Yet in Japan, pot is apparently such a big frickin’ deal that the head of the whole Sumo organization has resigned in shame because a couple wrestlers got stoned. If only the Drug Czar would resign in shame the next time a cop gets high [9].