Canada's lax anti-doping laws concern IOC
Weak legislation will make enforcement difficult at Games
Last Updated: Friday, January 15, 2010 | 2:27 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Dick Pound, member of the Canadian IOC and former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, says Canada's privacy laws will complicate efforts to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs at the Olympics. (Pierre-Phillipe Marcou/Getty Images)The Canada Border Services Agency has reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to fight the use of performance-enhancing drugs at the Winter Olympics next month.
But the agreement appears to amount to nothing more than a limited sharing of some information with Olympic officials.
The IOC wants banned substances barred from the country, but some of the drugs are legal in Canada.
Canadian IOC member Dick Pound says Canadian privacy laws complicate the IOC's request for the names of athletes who might be carrying them.
IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist says the lack of national anti-doping legislation in Canada will make enforcement difficult for the Games.
He says the IOC will require such legislation in future for countries wanting to host future Olympics.
