The Rebagliati case ended in a "worst case scenario" for the prohibitionists:

No lives were ruined, and there is an open discussion of why marijuana should be banned. Even worse, Rebagliati is a hero to snowboarders, much more famous than he ever would have been had this not happened. And in one of the perfect bits of irony that afflicts the hyprocrisy of marijuana prohibition, an Austrian snowboarder was expelled from the games for a drunken rampage at his hotel.

The panel, set up by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), ruled that there was no legal basis for Rebagliati's disqualification -- and he should never have been tested for the drug.

The basis for the reversal

CAS official Jean-Philippe Rochat told reporters, "The reason is an absence of a legal basis. The main point is that there can only be a sanction if there is an agreement between the international federation and the IOC."

In what appeared to be a rebuke to the International Olympic Committee, Rochat added: "The message that comes out from this is: if you want to take sanctions you should have the legal basis clarified in the rules." CAS is an independent body set up by the IOC to prevent sport disputes being dragged into civil court.

Canada had immediately appealed the case and said the racer had not used marijuana for 10 months but had been exposed to other people's smoke.

As the IOC decision was overturned, Rebagliati was just ending five hours of police questioning over whether Japan's strict drug laws had been breached. He left the police station, in Nakano near Nagano, accompanied by several officers. A police spokesman said his hotel room at the Shiga Kogen resort would be searched, but he was not in custody.

The reversal of the disqualification appeared to be based on a misunderstanding between the IOC, which oversees anti-doping controls, and the International Ski Federation (FIS) over which drugs should be targeted.

Of all the athletes in Nagano, only Alpine skiers and snowboarders have been tested for marijuana because FIS has been the only international sports federation to prohibit the drug. This is likely to be the source of a split between the skiers and the snowboarders.

But Rochat said FIS President Marc Hodler told the hearing there had been no formal agreement between FIS and the IOC about testing for marijuana.

Hodler also told the hearing that on December 6 last year, FIS decided it would apply the IOC medical code and not its own rules -- effectively meaning that marijuana tests were not needed.

In its formal communique outlining the ruling, the CAS said that the drug guide distributed by Nagano organizers "does not list marijuana as a prohibited substance but refers to it as a substance to be used 'cautiously."'

Other Olympic athletes openly supported Rebagliati.

The words "ROSS IS THE CHAMPION. GIVE THE GOLD BACK!" were written in black marker on a linen hotel napkin held by Canadian rider Michael Michalchuck. "I made it last night because I believe in Ross," said Michalchuck, 20, from Calgary.

"Ross won fair and square; he is the gold medalist, and no one can deny him that," Michalchuck said. "I don't understand why this is happening. He is a friend of mine, and he should be given the gold back. I saw him before this, and he was on top of the world. This should never have happened to him."

When Michalchuck finished his opening run, he unstrapped his board, took the napkin from his girlfriend and calmly held it up to the photographers and television camera operators waiting in the finish area.

"Marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug, and Ross did not smoke it; he was just subjected to it," he added. "Marijuana is present in every sport. If it happens to be more present in snowboarding, it may be just because it's a younger generation. A lot of us do not smoke it, but I'm not denying that a lot of my friends do. You're not going to change a friend because they do."