23 Oct 2011

Webster banned for a year

11:22 pm on 23 October 2011

The New Zealand basketballer Corey Webster has been slapped with a one-year ban for smoking the synthetic cannabis Kronic.

The Australian Court of Arbitration for Sport imposed the minimum one-year ban on the Tall Blacks and New Zealand Breakers NBL player following a hearing earlier this month.

22-year-old Webster told the CAS he had smoked the drug unwittingly, as he had asked a friend if the cigarette contained cannabis before inhaling and was told it did not.

The CAS said Webster had exercised caution about cannabis, but did not go far enough to determine what was in the cigarette.

It found his degree of fault was the absolute minimum and imposed the shortest sentence possible.

Webster was suspended in September after returning a positive test for the synthetic cannabis.

The substance was not illegal in New Zealand at the time and is not considered a performance enhancing drug.

However, it is prohibited according to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Webster failed a drug test for cannabis use last year, and was banned for two months missing the 2010 World Championships.