DRUGS THREATEN LUSTER OF GAMES

The Sydney Olympics don't open until next week, but talk already has
turned to drug use at the Games.

A study financed by the White House and released Friday estimates drug
use to be as high as 90 percent in some Olympic sports. Wade Exum,
formerly drug czar for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said he thinks five
of eight Sydney finalists in such sports as track and swimming will
have used banned substances.

"You look at some of these athletes, and they're just too cut to be
regular human beings," Exum said.

Some critics contend sports leaders have not cracked down because drugs
lead to spectacular performances. They don't want to bust significant
numbers of athletes and sully the Olympic image in the eyes of
sponsors.

"There really are two sides to the drug issue," said John Pineau,
attorney for Exum. "The drug usage problem is bad for business, but
drugs themselves work. And drugs lead to gold medals, which is good for
business."

The IOC is responsible for testing at the Games, while the governing
bodies of individual sports oversee it the rest of the time.

"The aura of secrecy in which these bodies squirrel test results
invites public cynicism about the integrity and the meaning of record-
breaking Olympic performances," said Joseph Califano Jr., president of
the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University, which conducted the study.

The report cites the absence of effective policing, which has created
an "environment that encourages doing anything --- including doping ---
to win."

The White House report recommends creating an international
organization independent of the IOC to be responsible for drug testing
and for banning substances.

IOC Vice President Dick Pound, who leads the World Anti-Doping Agency,
established last year, said no one associated with the study contacted
him. Pound said the 90 percent figure for athletes in any sport seemed
"wildly high."