04/19/24
July 02, 2003
Canada, eh?: 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver. Number of athletes testing positive for marijuana expected to skyrocket.
posted by Ufez Jones to other at 11:33 AM - 12 comments
86: As this earlier article from today's SF Chronicle explains, it seems the reasons may not be as straightforward or charitable as that. Geopolitics rulez!
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:05 PM on July 02, 2003
Ufez, it might be legal by then. Or atleast the punishment will be comparable to a speeding ticket. Recently legislation was put forward decreasing the penalty for possession while increasing the penalty for cultivation. In all the profitability calcuations done for the Games bid I bet this was omitted, or maybe fudged into 'lumber' category. 86, don't you worry. I have an inside track for hockey tix. Maybe not the final, but I've already put in the request.
posted by garfield at 12:15 PM on July 02, 2003
Hell, if Canada makes the finals again verses the US, they may sell out BC Place stadium for the final. Could you imagine the attendance for that hockey game! It probably won't happen, but it would be awesome to think about that possibility! The only bad part of this decision is that it makes it less likely that New York will get the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and I am doubtful that Toronto could convince the IOC to give them the games in that year as well.
posted by jasonbondshow at 12:28 PM on July 02, 2003
I just checked out the Games Bid site and did not find a Toronto bid. I thought they were bidding for the 2012 Games, but I guess I was wrong. New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow, and Havana are the main bidders. My money's on either Paris or Madrid hosting the Games, with London as another contender. I think that the current political wind blowing in the IOC is against the New York bid, but one can never tell what the IOC will do two years from now. Moscow and Havana are probably not going to be a factor, while Leipzig is a contender, but memories of 1936 and 1972 will always play any German bid.
posted by jasonbondshow at 12:47 PM on July 02, 2003
hopefully Toronto won't even bid for 2012. I hope (speaking as someone that used to live in Toronto, loves the place and was happy to seem them miss out on their two most recent bids - if only to avoid the hassle that always seems to be worse than "they" say). A Winter Olympics for Canada is good though. I support that.
posted by gspm at 12:50 PM on July 02, 2003
I know garfield, and High Times recently named Vancouver the best city for pot in the world over Amsterdam. That said, even if the host country had legalised (or completely decriminalised) drugs (like Portugal or Spain, for instance) I still believe that the IOC would test the competitors and act according to their rules on substance abuse. It may be legal for a Portuguese bobsledder to snort a half kilo of coke a day, but if he got caught by the IOC, he wouldn't be able to keep his medal. This could turn out to be an interesting conflict of interest.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:54 PM on July 02, 2003
I'm still baffled how bud is considered a performance enhancer. Enhancer, mosdef. Performance? Maybe in videogame land, or what I like to call the other 9 to 5.
posted by garfield at 01:19 PM on July 02, 2003
I doubt Toronto will bid. Not for a long while. After the last two losses (arguably where Toronto had the better bid, but lost to various politics and $$), I think that people here are more or less sick of the IOC now. The Olympics are quickly falling towards irrelevance anyway. I can't imagine how things will be by 2016 or beyond. ... says the bitter Torontonian with no faith in the IOC.
posted by mkn at 09:29 PM on July 02, 2003
garfield, who cares if it enhances performance, just don't bogard that joint!
posted by billsaysthis at 09:50 PM on July 02, 2003
You never know though, once the World Cup comes back to North America, Canada may have a good shot at hosting, seeing as how a) they never have (to my knowledge), and b) Mexico and the U.S. have both hosted in the past 17 years (Mexico in '86, U.S. in '94). As much as I'd love to see the five countries of Central America co-host, it'd be way too many teams that would automatically qualify and it would likely be a logistical nightmare.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:46 PM on July 02, 2003
Hell, if Canada makes the finals again verses the US, they may sell out BC Place stadium for the final. Could you imagine the attendance for that hockey game! It probably won't happen, but it would be awesome to think about that possibility! Actually, it's my understanding that it's not even 100% certain that GM Place (home of the Vancouver Canucks) will host the hockey games; traditionally, the largest venue is used for the figure skating competitions, which would mean the old Pacfic Coliseum might be the main venue for Olympic hockey (it's a nice enough building, but GM Place is better).
posted by filmgoerjuan at 11:57 PM on July 02, 2003
This must have been an easy choice for the IOC. Vancouver's a great place, they'll put on a good show and I, being the age and gender most attractive to marketers, won't have to be awake at 4 a.m. to catch the action. By the way, if anyone gets tickets to the hockey final, you should know that I'm starting to save my money right.... now.