Reefer Madness

Bill Clinton admitted to smoking pot, even if he tried to say he "didn't inhale" Barack Obama admits to trying cocaine. Where's the police at their door?

Phelps is a product of, not a cause for, the society in which he is living. The fact of the matter is Phelps is just a normal guy. The fact of the matter is college kids have parties and sometimes drink too much and sometimes smoke pot; just stating a fact. But if seeing college-aged kids act normally - despite their celebrity - is upsetting then speak directly to your own children, don't take it out on Phelps. The poor guy should be left alone.

The only explanation for the argument of him ruining an 'image' is that people don't like to be confronted. An image in front of your face gets a hysterical response. But the same people who had an inflammatory reaction will not spend their Saturday nights vigilante-style searching for the pot smokers at local college parties. The real battle then is not the act but having it thrown in your face. The stereotypical image of a college kid smoking pot at a party, and acting in the majority, is fine in American Pie and National Lampoon movies. There it's okay - it's fiction. But here in this photo, it is real and scary and no longer a joke. So the remedy is to patch a crack in the thin veneer that holds these lies and truth together. Does truth exist only when it's right in front of you?

The ???appropriate??? response has been to pick this as a battle. (Lucky this guy had high visibility.)

Furthermore, if I had just won 8 gold Olympic medals for my country, I would want to relax a little, too.

It's only legal for Willie Nelson to smoke. He's been busted many times and never spent a moment in jail. Check out his recent stop in Louisiana. He was pulled over with a pound and a half of high grade marijuana and 3 ounces of narcotic mushrooms. Never went to jail. Paid a $1,500 dollar fine and that was it. They probably gave the marijuana back to him. Anyone else would have been charged with a felony and probably a Federal case, due to him taking it from Texas into Louisiana. It should be legal for everyone, not just Willie!!

If pot smoking is the downfall of Western civilization somebody ought to get a warrant worked up to see what kind of Bush (pun intended) ol' Dubya is cultivating down there on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. That dude and his homeys must have been hitting some pretty wicked stuff to mess this country up as bad as they did.

"Now here's what happened when a photo, taken in November, surfaced of swimmer Michael Phelps with a bong to his lips at a University of South Carolina party: on the morning of Feb. 7, police used a battering ram to smash through the front door of the house in Columbia where the party had taken place three months earlier. "Freeze, motherf?????????ers!" the cops allegedly yelled as they rushed in, guns drawn."

Police brutality is out of control in America, and we have the War on Drugs to thank.

Nixon's legacies go deep, it seems...

What is going on with our society? Phelps is an incredible athelete, beyond simply great. His achievements and personal struggles he overcame place him in a category of highest stature. So what that he puffed on some pot. What he does privately is no ones business. I'm tired of the ongoing propoaganda about pot being a gateway drug or a hallucinogenic drug. GIVE ME A BREAK. Phelps will always be an American hero which I will continue to hold in the highest respect.
Countless teenagers are admitted to emergency rooms from alcohol poisoning...has that also occurred with dope? Teach your children about responsible behavior and speak truthfully about the risks, whether from alcohol, pot or tobacco and you will see a change. Decriminalize pot and send the revenue to pay for the ever increasing tax deficits all our states are suffering from.

Grow up America! We are crucifying one of the best American atheletes of all time. Phelps has overcome some major personal challenges to achieve a record number of gold medals. He has worked harder than anyone of us could ever imagine. It definately required extremes in personal efforts and tremendous dedication. So what...he smoked some pot and some stupid, inconsiderate "a-hole" snapped and sold a photo of him that was intended to be private. I have heard enough about the overexaggerated claims about pot. It is not a gateway drug, nor does it cause hallucinations and is much much safer than risks of alcohol poisoning (which is occurring at an alarming frequency among college students). Legalize, tax itt and make it available...and most importantly, speak truthfully about it and encourage responsible behavior from our youth. Not everyone will become a pot-head iwhen legalization happens. Most likely, useage will remain the same because ipot is exceptionally easy to obtain, even though it is illegal.

Unless some genius regards marijuana as a "performance-enhancing" drug, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Phelps swrimming achievements. And Phelps marijuana use, or not, has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of us otherwise.

America has serious problems, and it doesn't help to lock up a larger portion of our citizenry than even the worst Communist country in the world.... too often for drug offenses that, absent the Drug War, would have ZERO to do with the rest of us. All of this hullaballoo didn't stop alcohol use during Prohibition (only made the alcohol TRADE a serious threat to the whole society, through corruption and violence), and the Drug War has accomplished no more than that.

Time to get real.

I've known many people who smoke pot because I went to college and grad school, and I never met a stoner who was a menace to society. My only qualm with the drug is that it helps fuel more sinister criminal operations. Therefore, I say take that cash flow away from the drug lords, make it legal and taxable like tobacco, and reap the benefits. Personally, I wouldn't smoke it if it were legal cuz it stinks to unholy hell, but that's just me.

There's nothing wrong with smoking pot. I don't see how this country can say it's illegal, when God put it here on earth for a reason and it wasn't for people to go to jail over. Alcohol is worse than pot any day. People don't get killed from smoking pot and driving like drunk driving. Pot should be legal to smoke in your own home. In northern California, it's grown and nothing is said about it, so why can't it be like that all over this country. Pot is good for a lot of things including pain. I know because pot works better than pain pills.This country is screwed up and it needs to change.

In terms of his being an athlete, I don't have a problem with Phelps smoking pot. It isn't a performance enhancing drug, so it's hardly like A-rod and his steroids. Where the bad thing comes in is in the area of how many kids look up to this guy as an idol. When you are a star of any kind there are far too many young people who look to you for guidance on how to live their lives. You may not ask for this idol worship, but it's a by-product of fame you can't avoid, so you have an obligation to be as good a role model as possible. That's where Phelps has let this country down. That's the problem I have with him. That, and the overwhelming stupidity of letting someone even possibly see him smoke a bong. Did he think it wouldn't end up all over the web? If he did, then he's just plain moronic.

In terms of his being an athlete, I don't have a problem with Phelps smoking pot. It isn't a performance enhancing drug, so it's hardly like A-rod and his steroids. Where the bad thing comes in is in the area of how many kids look up to this guy as an idol. When you are a star of any kind there are far too many young people who look to you for guidance on how to live their lives. You may not ask for this idol worship, but it's a by-product of fame you can't avoid, so you have an obligation to be as good a role model as possible. That's where Phelps has let this country down. That's the problem I have with him. That, and the overwhelming stupidity of letting someone even possibly see him smoke a bong. Did he think it wouldn't end up all over the web? If he did, then he's just plain moronic.

JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU,REEFER HAS NO EFFECT ON THE BODY,THE GUY WON ALL THOSE MEDALS AND YOU THINK HE JUST STARTED SMOKING?

smoking weed? thats like spitting on the sidewalk or cursing in public,BIG DEAL!

man i wish i would have read about this yesterday to partake in the discussion....

heres the deal....

phelps is young, gifted, smart, hardworking, and apparently the best swimming athelete on the planet.
he smoked a little cheeba and the whole country goes into this over dramatic uproar of disapproval.

but as soon as lindsey lohan gets another DUI people love it, the crowds eat it up...

lets compare:

phelps: attending (and graduating) college, numerous olympic medals, his face on a wheaties box, endorsements

hollywood stars: most lack college education, most are just fodder for tabloids, very few are recognized internationally, none of they're faces have ever graced a wheaties box, half are idolized for being rich and lazy and demanding...

soooo where are our priorities?

he smoked a bong, and? what? drove off a cliff? hit an old lady? came down with reefer madness and has been institutionalized and can no longer compete or attend school? went on a killing spree at the university? no? so whats the big deal?

please, countless people do countless things that are FAAAR worse than taking a rip off a bong...

and hes a "role model"? parents, if you want your kids to idolize a man in a speedo that can swim like a fish thats your perogative, but i would hope you would push for your kids to idolize leaders, thinkers, teachers and the like.... not athelets that get paid WAAAYY too much to break a sweat and a record or 2.

bottom line, we could be sensastionalizing the drunk driver that killed a car full of teenagers, the meth addicts, the coke heads, and countless other certified "losers"...but micheal phelps makes the front page because he smoked a plant that grows damn near every where on earth... ummmmm.... riiiight... ill be going now, i have some weed to smoke....which, ironically, ive been smoking since i was 14, and i graduated highschool (lettering in football, and lacrosse), AND went to college, AND graduated college, AND i work full time and a part time job, AND im starting my own business, AND im in a full time band gigging regularly...

pot doesnt make you a lazy loser, phelps and myself can attest to that...

i smoke weed, and im proud of it, hell, this last weekend was the first weekend in months that i actually drank AND got drunk...

alchohol should be illegal over marijuana any day... its killed more people that the crack epidemic, heroin, and cocaine combined.

I think Jay Leno put it best when he said "You should never share your weed with a guy that has lungs the size of a dolphin".
But seriously, aside from any type of smoke being bad for your health, getting caught with a little weed (in most states) is no worse than getting a speeding ticket. Cigarettes and alcohol are sold legally but are the documented killers.
And thanks for giving Phelps a break, I hope more sponsors pick him up because he's all-American kid and will always be a star in most peoples eyes!!

Posted By: ToTheRight @ 02/22/2009 12:13:18 PM

It's all about setting a bad example. This guy went from being the poster boy for hard work = athletic success to doper loser.
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He would have been better off Drinking himself to death on legal alcohol. Believe me marijuana is a lot safer.