In Good Company – Ross Rebagliati

Well I can’t believe this blog has been running for over a year and I haven’t mentioned Ross Rebagliati. After all this is a Canadian blog about marijuana use, and this series in particular is about famous people known for using marijuana, if Ross Rebagliati doesn’t have a place here no one does. Sure Ross Rebagliati may not be a household name, he many not really be remembered outside Canada, maybe even not outside of Canadian Cannabis cluture.

So who is Ross Rebagliati for those who no longer remember the name? Ross Rebegliati was born in Vancouver British Columbia in 1971. He became a professional snowboarder of some note, and in 1991 he became the first ever Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding. His victory was short lived after the judges discovered trace amounts of THC in his system, the gold was taken from him. Rebagliati successfully challenged the decision and regained his gold and thus retains the title of the first ever gold medalist in snowboarding.

Ross Rebagliati managed to overturn the decision based on his claim that he attended a party a week or so before the Olympics where Marijuana was being used but did not use it himself. He maintains the traces in his bloodstream were purely second hand. This is theoretically possible due to the nature of THC, but second hand highs rarely leave enough THC in the bloodstream to be detected. I doubt his story, but to me it is irrelevant.

THC is a relaxant, not a stimulant, and it is not likely to help with sporting events to be high at the time, especially not with snowboarding where you need all your concentration. As such really there is no reason to disqualify a person for marijuana use.

Now Ross can be found on Kelowna Mountain running his Snowboarding training camp known as Rebagliati Alpine Snowboarding Training, or by its moniker RASTA, well mon ya can’t beat that now can ya.