It was big "news" over the weekend when a British tabloid got a picture of US Olympic hero and swim freak Michael Phelps taking a hit off a bong. Predictably, Phelps apologized:
“I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again,” Phelps said in a statement.His career, the Times intones "may now be tarnished beyond repair." They may be right, but I tend to agree with Ed's take over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars:
Give me a break. Maybe this should send a message of truth to children -- and adults -- that pot is not some terrible drug that ruins your life, no matter how much the government lies to you. Having a few bong hits at a party is no more a problem for him or a threat to morality or the public good than the head of the USOC having a glass of wine or a martini. I'm far more worried about the pervasive lies the government tells about pot to children than this allegedly bad message.Notwithstanding Government propaganda to the contrary, all drugs are not created equal. The idea that pot is as dangerous as meth or heroin is just silly. The only reason pot may be a "gateway" drug is that, in order to get it, people have to deal with a black market that also offers much more dangerous products. Legalize it and that problem vanishes.
2 comments:
totally agreed! Phelps is a great athlete who happens to like to smoke. big freakin' deal, it's not like he's on steroids or something that's gonna mess up his life down the road.
he shouldn't have apologized. and his career being in jeapordy because of it is just dumb. why can't people in the public eye be like "yeah, i do it, and your point?" hell, even Obama admitted to smoking weed in his day. that, my friends, is true coolness.
Well said!
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