There are a lot of firsts for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

Curling is an official medal sport after its trial period in 1994 at the Lillehammer games. Also making it's debut as an official medal sport for is snowboarding, a combination of surfing and skiing.

But while curling is being noticed for all the good reasons, snowboarding is not.

Ross Rebagliati, a Canadian snowboarder from Whistler B.C., competed in the men's giat slalom the day after the opening ceremonies of the Nagano games and won the first ever Olympic gold medal given for the sport. It was also Canada's first medal of the games. Time for celebration right?

Wrong.

Just days after fulfilling an 11-year dream, Rebagliati was told by the Inernational Olympic Committee (IOC) to hand over his gold medal because he had tested positive for the presence of marijuana, a drug with Rebagliati admitted that he as smoked but not since last April. The only reason the drug was in his system at all was due to a party that he attended in his honor the day before he left for Nagano. At this party, people were smoking pot and Rebagliati ingested it secondhand.

Rebagliati's urine samples showed 17.8 nanograms (one-millionth of a gram)per millilitre, just 2.8 nanograms above the International Ski Federation's legal amount of concentration. While the IOC simply lists marijuana as a banned substance, it has never perviously dealt with situations concerning the drug.

The whole problem with the situation is that marijuana is not, and can never be a performance-enhancing drug.

According to Dr. Andrew Pipe, chairperson of the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sports, located in Ottawa, the drug destroys balance, coordination and hand-eye movement. So, if in fact Rebagliati did smoke pot before his race, he should receive the gold medal just for finishing.

The question that everyone is asking is why was this situation was blown up as much as it was?

Some would say it is because some members of the IOC do not agree snowboarding should be a medal sport. So they would do whatever they could to tarnish the sport and make people think twice about it. But in fact, the total opposite has happened.

The support that Rebagliati recieved from his teammates and the people in Canada was incredible. And so it should have been. Rebagliati was declared guilty by the IOC before he got a chance to explain himself.

People such as Deputy Prime Minister Shelia Copps, Federal Progresive Conservative leader Jean Charest and Refore leader Preston Manning all put their support behind the new Canadian hero.

The question I ask is this. If Elvis Stojko had won gold and tested positive for marijuana, would he have had to give up his medal? I think that question could be answered with an resounding no. The only reason snowboarding received this type of attention is because of its reputation.

Ask any snowboarder and he or she will tell you the sport consists of a "part-type lifestyle." But is that any legitimate reason to discriminate against it?

Snowboarding, be it the giant slalom or the half-pipe disiplines gives new life to a very old school Olympics.

Rebagliati has said he has learned his lesson with this whole ordeal. In a press conference after the decision came down to return his gold medal, Rebagliati stated that in no way is he going to change his lifestyle.

My friends are the most real people that I know," he said in his statement. "I don't care what the media thinks, I may have to start wearing a gas mask when I am around them, but I am not going to stop hanging around them just because they smoke pot."

As a result of his new found popularity, Rebagliati, oh his way home to Vancouver had to make a detour trip to Los Angeles, where he appeared on the NBC Tonite Show with Jay Leno. As he walked out on stage the dominately American audience greeted the Canadian hero with an appreciative round of applause.

He was also asked by the Canadian men's hockey team to come and watch their first game agaist Belarus for what the team called "good luck." I tip my had to Rebagliati. He handled this situation with true Canadian spirit and was never in doubt he would regain his gold medal.

All of Canada is proud of him, and I believe the IOC should review this controversy so something like this doesn't happen again.