All the buzz: Pot scandal jolts Japan's sumo world

Dantheman62 · 02-05-2009, 09:53 PM

TOKYO – Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with.

In the past six months, four wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen.

Although three of the wrestlers who have been expelled from the sport were from Russia, the arrest last week of a 25-year-old Japanese athlete who goes by the ring name of Wakakirin for possession of marijuana has raised concern that use of the drug may be more widespread than originally thought.

In Japan, sumo wrestlers are not seen as athletes in the way that baseball or tennis players are. A photo of U.S. swimming star Michael Phelps with a marijuana pipe got wide play in the media here, but nowhere near the consternation of the sumo scandal.

The sting of the busts in sumo — which only recently introduced doping tests — was made all the worse because of the breakdown in Japan's still relatively drug-free environment. Marijuana use, in particular, is rising rapidly despite a stiff punishment — up to five years in prison for possession.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/...o_drug_scandal

02-05-2009, 09:53 PM	#1
Dantheman62 Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: So. Cal. U.S. Posts: 4,205	All the buzz: Pot scandal jolts Japan's sumo world TOKYO – Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with. In the past six months, four wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen. Although three of the wrestlers who have been expelled from the sport were from Russia, the arrest last week of a 25-year-old Japanese athlete who goes by the ring name of Wakakirin for possession of marijuana has raised concern that use of the drug may be more widespread than originally thought. In Japan, sumo wrestlers are not seen as athletes in the way that baseball or tennis players are. A photo of U.S. swimming star Michael Phelps with a marijuana pipe got wide play in the media here, but nowhere near the consternation of the sumo scandal. The sting of the busts in sumo — which only recently introduced doping tests — was made all the worse because of the breakdown in Japan's still relatively drug-free environment. Marijuana use, in particular, is rising rapidly despite a stiff punishment — up to five years in prison for possession. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/...o_drug_scandal