Michael Phelps, hypocrisy and American Drug Policy

When are we as a culture going to outgrow this draconian, baseless criminalization of a substance which has never factually caused harm to anyone.

YES I REPEAT - ANYONE.

In this 1947 "reefer madness" mindset that many of you hold it would be perfectly ok to see Mr. Gold Medal Michael Phelps slurging down a fifth of gin and acting like a brainless lush....but even mention the evil scary word marijuana and all of a sudden he is supposed to be ridiculed and spat upon like some common gutter trash?

Fact: our government makes billions of dollars every year by keeping a HARMLESS substance illegal

Fact: our prisons are overflowing with non-violent drug offenders who have been caught selling and/or using a substance which has no lasting harmful effects and has never killed ONE PERSON.

The reason drug gangs and drug violence are rampant here as opposed to a place like Amsterdam where drugs are legal is the mass inflation of street value and profitability that is caused by the illegalization of something which should have long ago been legalized and controlled through our own commerce system.

Legalize it, sell it in small seperate shops which cater to that specific substance (like in CA with medical MJ)...this would not only eliminate drug laws which are outdated, racist and useless but it would eliminate illegal trafficking and street sales by de-valuing the price, thus rendering illegal trading unprofitable.

Not to mention if we tax it and sell it like alcohol, tobacco and any other substance the revenue generated could help save this failing economy. But no, that would make far too much sense for our government to ever consider.

Instead lets just keep ruining lives, breaking up families and criminalizing decent folk who prefer to smoke weed instead of getting drunk and acting like a complete ass.

And if Michael Phelps can smoke marijuana and win seven gold medals what that says to me is maybe more people should START smoking. Doesnt seem to be holding him back much.

reply to post by BlackOps719


Here here! I'm with you even though I choose not to use. THC should be legal. Any drug which cannot be linked to violence and/or death towards others or one's self should be legallized. Pot is a calming drug.

Unfortunately there are still many ignorant people who believe that the government only works for our best interest

These same people blindly follow any and every law without ever questioning
and usually do follow the "weed is bad , alcohol is fine" mindset .... but fail to realize they are both mood altering substances.

I personally would much rather have a bunch of hungry,sleepy,happy potheads driving 15 miles under the speed limit then half of the drunk assholes i see out on the roads every day and night .....

but don't waste your time trying to explain any of it to the typical dumbass
- you know since they already have it all figured out

reply to post by hoochymama


basically...

Hoochymama tell'em like it is. He cannot be arrested because i'm sure the stature of limitations of smoking chronic out of a bong has expired. Hell, what i want to see is someone with balls big enough to say "Yea i did it and i plan on doing it again..and you know what? Whatcha gunna do 'bout it, huh?!"

unfortunately i dont have the time at the moment to get into another discussion on this topic

but just wanted to pop in to say that this can be a great thread

just be careful of how you word things and the subject matter you bring up

make sure what you say does not violate t and c

just saying this as here on ats we recently had a great thread on this same subject about phelps and marijuana going last time i saw it

but unfortunately there were too many personal use references so when i went to check back in on that thread i had found out the thread got deleted

as good a thread as it was i can understand why ats had to delete it

so just a reminder be professional and mature with what we all talk about and heres hoping to another great post just like the last one just maybe a bit more self censored

Look... Phelps was probably drunk, or had a buzz, and his buddy talked him into hitting the bong. He was probably set up by his so called "friend". I mean really... why else would you take a pic of an American hero hitting a bong, other than to make money.

More importantly he passed his drug test for the Olympics, and is still the reigning 8 time gold medal winner/super hero.

Leave the guy alone.

scared lady, you sound like a scared lady! if seeing a picture of michael phelps hitting a bong makes you want to go out and commit a crime, you should get your head examined. also, no one will ever do years in jail for smoking a bong. legalize it. one million jobs will be created, from farming and agriculture all the way to manufacturing and entrepreneurs opening up all kinds of related businesess. so he hit a bong, it should be legal anyway. our economy would be rockin all over again.

Yes there's a double standard, but not just drugs. Ask Tom Daschle.

Personally, I think it's good people are talking about it. It should be legalized. Drug "crimes" are filling up our prisons while actual criminals are working on Wall Street. Madoff.

The one thing that keeps coming to mind when I see that picture of Phelps isn't the horrors of reefer madness, no, instead I now fully understand why why he consumes 25,000 calories a day...

I still can't get over Michael Phelps(American Hero) caught smoking pot

I have no objections whatsoever, but what's next? .. Lance Armstrong caught smoking meth?

reply to post by scaredlady


Good post and boy you are on the money with the title.
Check out "Marijuana Inc" on CNBC...talks about life in Mendicino Co in N California, Oakland ect where marijuana is essentially a valid business(in spite of Fed Gov)..

In my opinion we hold sports stars in such high esteem....most are not well educated and the only skill they have is to run fast with a ball or swim well, etc. Really the only purpose for this "occupation" is to make money and to make money for sponsers and team owners. It's a business. As far as I'm concerned all atheletes should be able to use any performance enhancing drugs out there...after all it's the profit margin that matters in th end. So why not amp up with the best that modern medicine has to offer? At the end of the day none of it really matters in the real world anyway.

Just my opinion.

Originally posted by scaredlady

When normal, everyday teens are caught with pot, they go to jail, they're lives are ruined, and no one listens when they say, "This was an error in judgment, I won't ever do it again."

Really?

Where and what year is that?

Tell me the last time you knew of someone arrested for being seen in a picture "allegedly" using a bong with pot in it.

Originally posted by Dr Pepper

More importantly he passed his drug test for the Olympics, and is still the reigning 8 time gold medal winner/super hero.

Leave the guy alone.

I agree to leave the guy alone but he isn't a superhero. He's just a man, flawed and human. Everyone knows, celebs more than anyone, that there is always a camera and someone behind it. But, we're only human. No one can be expected to be on perfect, let alone on their best behavior, all the time. What if the picture was of him masterbating? Would he be a pervert? No he is an AVERAGE, NORMAL, HUMAN MAN. He is naturally flawed and no one has the right to pass moral judgement over him.

Legalize POT

Tax POT

Economic surplus

Happy, calm Americans

Originally posted by Tentickles
You have to realize this guy trained 12 hours a day for 3 years to go to the Olympics. He's an "American Hero" (I say that loosely) and a role model.

I think he gets a free pass.

He's done more with his life then all the pot heads and drug dealers ever will.

So some good deeds make it okay to break the law? Justice has a new face and it ain't pretty. It's strange how many times I stopped at a stoplight, but the one time I went through one, I got a ticket...and a video of the incident. Maybe I should have told them I'm adopting a child through Compassion International , maybe they would've let me off the hook?

I've just now noticed how many "Legalize It" posts there are merely because "Michael Phelps does it, we all should be able too!"

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

If you knew how to read beyond the walls of your own brain you'd see that there are tons more reasons than smoking being brought up on here, phelps is just being put in the spotlight.

Originally posted by alaskan
If you knew how to read beyond the walls of your own brain you'd see that there are tons more reasons than smoking being brought up on here, phelps is just being put in the spotlight.

I am a biochemist who makes drug testing kits for THC and other drugs. I think I know a little bit about the drug, but thanks. In addition, those of us who have suffered from family members using it could testify as well. I'm sure you don't want me to list all the reasons not to smoke it, but surely preaching advocacy to me is okay?

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

Originally posted by saint4God

Originally posted by alaskan
If you knew how to read beyond the walls of your own brain you'd see that there are tons more reasons than smoking being brought up on here, phelps is just being put in the spotlight.

I am a biochemist who makes drug testing kits for THC and other drugs. I think I know a little bit about the drug, but thanks. In addition, those of us who have suffered from family members using it could testify as well. I'm sure you don't want me to list all the reasons not to smoke it, but surely preaching advocacy to me is okay?

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

Yes, and alcohol does the same it should be made illegal Cigarettes harm people too, so they should be illegal Caffeine is bad to, let outlaw that Some people are allergic to my cat, some have had very bad and harmfull side effects from it, lets ban cats I know a dog that once bit someone... uh-oh better ban dogs to!

I could go on but I'm sure it would be pointless. Its better to leave these types of things (drugs) illegal, that way gangs and other criminals will always have a source of income and a reason to shoot innocent bystanders when a deal goes bad.

Besides I'm sure we have nothing better for our Bio-chemists to do than make drug testing kits... Nope absolutely nothing else in the world that some of our best minds should be working on.

I hope the entire drug testing industry goes belly up. Nothing personal

[edit on 5-2-2009 by XTexan]

Originally posted by XTexan
Besides I'm sure we have nothing better for our Bio-chemists to do than make drug testing kits... Nope absolutely nothing else in the world that some of our best minds should be working on.

The drug testing kits are also used by doctors and hospitals to administer life saving drugs like Quinidine and Theophylline.

Originally posted by XTexan
I hope the entire drug testing industry goes belly up. Nothing personal

I wish you well though you wish me ill. If no one took narcotics I would be out half of my job...but what a wonderful way to change a career.


[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

Originally posted by saint4God

I am a biochemist who makes drug testing kits for THC and other drugs. I think I know a little bit about the drug, but thanks. In addition, those of us who have suffered from family members using it could testify as well. I'm sure you don't want me to list all the reasons not to smoke it, but surely preaching advocacy to me is okay?

Read any labels on food in the grocery stores lately? Might as well drink a vial of poison.

Let me grow my own natural relaxant - and I'll be just fine.

The only reason marijuana became illegal is (again) Politics & Power. Search: Hearst - Anslinger - Dupont