Comments on: Roho claims he has never seen, touched, or smoked Marijuana

By: …My heart’s in Accra » Sumo and the cycle of nature

…My heart’s in Accra » Sumo and the cycle of nature — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:36:17 +0000

[...] and the sumo association responded by banning him from the sport for life. His countrymen, brothers Roho and Hakurozan, tested positive for marijuana in a drug test administered to all rikishi. They demanded and failed a second drug test and they, too, have banned [...]

By: Roho told committee that he bought marijuana in America | Japan Probe

Roho told committee that he bought marijuana in America | Japan Probe — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:04:20 +0000

[...] had told the press he had never seen, touched, or smoked marijuana. He has responded to the new press reports by [...]

By: Russian sumo wrestlers fail second drug test | Japan Probe

Russian sumo wrestlers fail second drug test | Japan Probe — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:06:46 +0000

[...] and Hakurozan denied having ever seen or used marijuana and demanded that their urine samples be re-tested. The second test returned another positive [...]

By: BurnChao

BurnChao — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:48:52 +0000

What’s wrong with a sumo wrestler smoking the reefer? I can’t believe the sumo association tests for that. They should be testing for performance enhancers, everything else doesn’t affective the job.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:59:18 +0000

Yeah, ok, time to take of the tinfoil hat.

By: Mary Witzl

Mary Witzl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:27:58 +0000

I agree with Rob. I can’t believe he didn’t use marijuana, but I can’t see that this is such a big deal either. And, not having met Roho, it is possible that someone could have planted the stuff on him.

I spent a long time in Japan, but I rarely heard anyone state that only non-Japanese used drugs. Most people tend to know about amphetamine use, and the obvious over-dependence on alcohol is so in-your-face that all can see the effects.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:47:26 +0000

This means he still could have inhaled with his eyes closed and met those conditions.

By: ham

ham — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:08:15 +0000

“Only gaijin do drugs! Guilty! Guilty!”

I think you have too much bias to Japanese media or people.

At least, I don’t hear any “Giajin is the root of evil !!” thing here.

The media is just reporting the fact,
even refering about the possiblity of mistake.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:00:32 +0000

Why would someone slip him a mickey? That makes less sense than lying.

He most likely made a mistake, got caught and is now trying to save his sumo career. We’ve seen this pattern in pro-sports a million times – just look at Marion Jones from the US Track and Field Team. She lied about steroid use, ended up in jail and was forced to return all her medals – why would she jeopardize herself? The same reason Roho would, because she got caught doing something illegal.

By: Sheriff D

Sheriff D — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:16:40 +0000

Yeah……. 2nd hand could do it, if you inhale enough of it in close proximity. True. But you’d have to suck in a whole sh_t load for that though!

By: Sheriff D

Sheriff D — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:15:02 +0000

Youse are a plonker, Rob.

Honestly – why would a guy like that jeopardize himself.

Somebody must have slipped him a mickey in one of his meals.

By: Dakk

Dakk — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:03:48 +0000

“But in Japan, where anti-gaijin feelings in the sumo world and among the cops and media are definitely an issue, it seems VERY likely that plenty of Japanese rikishi also had false positives, but the cops or the media instantly assumed that a positive result for a Japanese rikishi MUST be wrong. “Only gaijin do drugs! Guilty! Guilty!””

Gee, it sure is baseless accusations-fuled-by-racism around here.

By: jmadsen

jmadsen — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:02:07 +0000

Bill Cosby: “…nor have I ever smoked any marijuana … although I’ve inhaled it…”

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:01:48 +0000

They should do they “hair test” which can detect use from up to three years back. I don’t necessary agree with marijuana laws (Cannibus Control Law was part of McArthur’s 1948 Constitutional reform) but everyone knows teh rules in Japan. If you are a sumotori, you have to “toe the line” with extra care.

By: Level3

Level3 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:24:46 +0000

After my earlier rant about the innacuracy of the tests, it turns out that they DID use a shitty test.

[See first article about this issue. To sum up, do the math, if the test false positive rate is the same as the actual drug use rate, then half of the "positive" results are wrong. This gets far worse if the actual drug use rate is lower than the rate of false positives.]

All tests give false positives. A positive test with no other evidence can’t be used to send someone to jail, can it? God, I hope not.

It seems almost impossible that ONLY 2 gaijin wrestlers had false positive results.

But in Japan, where anti-gaijin feelings in the sumo world and among the cops and media are definitely an issue, it seems VERY likely that plenty of Japanese rikishi also had false positives, but the cops or the media instantly assumed that a positive result for a Japanese rikishi MUST be wrong. “Only gaijin do drugs! Guilty! Guilty!”

I really hope the “better” results come back negative, and Roho and friends sue the cops and the media for libel.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:04:02 +0000

I neither believe them nor think their marijuana use should matter.

I’d do the same as them, and continue to lie their asses off in the face of all evidence.

Works for everything else in Japan [and yes, America, and Russia and well... everywhere] so why not sumo?

By: marc

marc — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:16:01 +0000

Ibuprofen (aka Motrin) – a widely-used anti-inflammatory and pain-killer available over-the-counter or by prescription – can often produce false positive results for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). A kidney infection could do the same as handful of other perfectly legitimate reasons.