By Jonathan Tamayo
Missing Call Letter
Poor Michael Phelps. He’s lost his Kellog’s sponsorship, is being suspended from competitions for three months by the USA swimming committee, and is being threatened to be crinimallyprosecuted by a law enforcement official at the University of South Carolina, all for taking a bong rip.
Being from California, where medical marijuana patients can get pot in vending machines, I have a very liberal stance when it comes to pot smoking, and have written about it in previous posts. Personally I think adults should have the right to do whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes, even if that means making mistakes. It’s a free country right?
Phelps has come under a firestorm of criticism from critics who are quick to condemn the Olympic champion, who not too long ago was a big American hero. So give the guy a break, he’s already apologized and acknowledged his behavior was “regrettable” and he demonstrated “bad judgement.” Everybody makes mistakes, his just happened to be getting caught.
He’s dealt with the issue in a mature way and says he understands he must accept the consequences, so why won’t people just leave him alone? It’s not like he was killing a baby or shooting up heroin. He’s 23-years old and got caught smoking weed at a college party. Not that big of a deal.
According to a Time/CNN poll in 2002, 47 percent of Americans have smoked marijuana. So why all the fire and brimstone towards Michael Phelps? Phelps also isn’t the only prominent public figure known for smoking the reefer. Here’s a list with links of other celebrities and politicians who have admitted to smoking weed:
Actress Jennifer Aniston, Former First Lady Laua Bush, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, actor Harrison Ford, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Gov. Sarah Palin, conservative WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan, Apple’s Steve Jobs, author Steven King, CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Pablo Picasso…and that’s just the short list.
Some historians even believe Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, and Franklin Pierce tried it.
My point is, pot is not that big of deal. Michael Phelps shouldn’t have apologized for something he did behind closed doors and has conducted himself in a dignified manner since the incident. So leave him alone and let him get back to swimming. We need him in 2012.
