Michael Phelps, hypocrisy and American Drug Policy

Originally posted by saint4God

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

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

Excuse me? Drug TESTING kits are now used to administer drugs? Is there some aspect of drug testing vs drug administration that I don't understand, or are you not what you say you are?

Also, Mr. Biochemist, what does alkaloid administration have to do with terpenoid detection anyway?

And, those life-saving drugs, especially theophylline, are hardly used anymore (at least in the US) due to the availability of better drugs with fewer side effects. I call shenanagins!

Edit to add: I do not advocate or condone the use of any illegal substances, but COME ON, people, the facts of the matter are clear: if anything should be outlawed it is alcohol! Alcohol is far more dangerous to individuals and society as a whole, while the worst thing about weed is that it's illegal!


[edit on 5-2-2009 by keeb333]

I completely agree with the OP.

The law is BS. It favours those in a position to abuse it. Normal people suffer from its wrath. Nothing is fair with the (in)justice system.

I don't understand how governments can legislate to stop people growing a plant, crushing it up and smoking it. Defining that as an illegal action is social control and engineering. We're puppets to them.

I made a post about this before it became a huge deal it got moved to the people forums then in to the trash bin because ATS doesnt allow illegal drug use topics was the reason i got

Originally posted by keeb333
Excuse me? Drug TESTING kits are now used to administer drugs? Is there some aspect of drug testing vs drug administration that I don't understand, or are you not what you say you are?

Pardon my anxious reply. The drug testing kits are used as a measure to determine whether or not dosage levels need to be altered by doctors. I apologize if this was unclear. If I'm not who I say I am, the mods have the right to ban me from the site for lying. Have them follow up and I can validate it with them.

Originally posted by keeb333
Also, Mr. Biochemist,

Mr.? What makes you so sure?

Originally posted by keeb333
what does alkaloid administration have to do with terpenoid detection anyway?

There are two versions of kits, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) and Drugs of Abuse (DAU) testing. Most are drug specific but we do have a few multi-drug detection kits, though they're harder to make and consequently more expensive.

Originally posted by keeb333
And, those life-saving drugs, especially theophylline, are hardly used anymore (at least in the US) due to the availability of better drugs with fewer side effects. I call shenanagins!

We're still making Theo kits so someone is still buying them. Being a global corporation they could be sending them overseas. I don't get invited to those meetings.

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

So I guess if I was a twelve year old kid and I was flipping the channels one day, I'd see one of those ads attacking marijuana users as being lazy, stupid and social outcasts. Then I'd flip the channel and see America's golden boy, the guy who was literally the media's Jesus Christ, and the main athlete in this country for a couple of months hitting a bong. I wonder what I would think?

Probably what I thought as a 12 year old going through the D.A.R.E. program many years ago... "This is all bull#"

reply to post by saint4God


I will say that I am very unknowledgable on the tests made for use in a hospital, and of course those should continue to be made, I was of course referring to pre-employment drug testing kits and the such.

And I don't wish you ill, just the industry... in fact I hope that tomorrow you recieve a call and a new job and you go off to cure some horrible disease... or maybe make a chemical so some of my friends dont almost die when I rub cat hair on them, lol

Originally posted by scaredlady


Get a grip people. Being famous and rich does not exclude you from the same rules and laws the rest of us are sweating out.

Er, yes it does.

Originally posted by XTexan
in fact I hope that tomorrow you recieve a call and a new job and you go off to cure some horrible disease...

Thank you, that would be awesome. I've wanted to do cancer research since I was fifteen. Probably need a PhD for anyone to consider me though.

Originally posted by XTexan
or maybe make a chemical so some of my friends dont almost die when I rub cat hair on them, lol

That'd be cool too

reply to post by saint4God


Please accept my humble apology for accusing you of lying. It's just that I've had to deal with people on boards WAY too often who misrepresent themselves, so I guess I am always looking for holes in someone's post.

My bad!

By the way I highly doubt anyone could be prosecuted for doing drugs in a picture considering the absence of any real tangible evidence. I mean for look through current Americana and the disconnect between what is presented as mainstream culture and the reality, just search through random profiles of people under 30 on myspace and look at their photos. I'd bet at least 5% to 10% of all those will have pictures of people getting twhacked out on illegal substances. Hell, there's pictures of yayo and mota use on mine.

Phelps is kind of a coward though. I understand he has to protect his 100 million in endorsement deals and he has to keep the conservatives and jesus freaks in this country pacified and buying his cereal boxes. However, I really wish he just would've said "Yeah I smoke, it's a private matter, jump on these nuts".

Originally posted by keeb333Please accept my humble apology for accusing you of lying. It's just that I've had to deal with people on boards WAY too often who misrepresent themselves, so I guess I am always looking for holes in someone's post.

My bad!

No worries, it's difficult to separate truth from fiction on the internet and ATS doubly so. If you're helping to keep people honest, I think that's a plus . "Test everything" - 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Originally posted by saint4God
I'm sure you don't want me to list all the reasons not to smoke it...

By all means, please do. Let me guess, smoke inhalation and mental/psychological side effects?

By the way, do you think god put it here only for us to deem evil and destroy?

[edit on 5-2-2009 by alaskan]

Originally posted by alaskan
By all means, please do. Let me guess, smoke inhalation and mental/psychological side effects?

Thanks, I think that's mighty fair of you to offer:

1.) Aspergillis
2.) Depression/Suicidal ideation
2.) Amotivational Syndrome
3.) Problems Learning
4.) Schizophrenia
5.) Distorted perceptions
6.) Impaired coordination
7.) Difficulty in thinking and problem solving
8.) Memory failure
9.) Increased Anxiety
10.) Increased mental illnesses risk
11.) Psychotic reactions
12.) Increased Heart attack risk
13.) Cancer (carcinogenic hydrocarbons)
14.) Greater missed days at work/school

More at www.nida.nih.gov...

These don't include my personal challenges with a family member having used it.

Originally posted by alaskan
By the way, do you think god put it here only for us to deem evil and destroy?

No more than I think God put it here to smoke.

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

reply to post by saint4God


While I seriously doubt that any of these are backed up by conclusive studies, I will take the time to look through this list line by line, could be awhile but... I SHALL RETURN!

Originally posted by scaredlady


Sorry if there's already a thread on this. I'm becoming more and more jaded as I watch officials and celebrities become immune to the laws that are enforced daily on normal working taxpayers!

When I was arrested and put in jail for driving with a suspended license, I wasn't given the opportunity to say, "Woops, sorry, I did a bad thing."

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 judgement, I won't ever do it again."

Phelps was not caught with Pot. He was "photographed" with a bong. There is a huge difference.


Ordinary people don't have pictures of them posted all over the media either...

Can you say false dichotomy?

reply to post by saint4God


Where is the statistics on how happy it makes people?

Doesn't that count?

Or better yet, compare Alcohol, Tobacco, and Pot side by side as far as positive effects AND negative effects.

Ever get robbed by someone who was high on marijuana? Nope...Ever get in a fight with someone smoking pot? (not unless they are driving to slow)...it is horrible that they lock up repsonsible adults for having it. Dealing it to kids....thats 3 years in my book. Second time - Life. There you go. Bt responsible adults. See where I say responsible......

This picture just exemplifies that it is the person, not the drug.

yeah, he was caught with a bong, and apologized for his behavior. we're not stupid, we know what he was apologizing for.

who cares anyways. america is screwed. the world is screwed. everything is whacky tacky nowadays, and has been. your either somebody, or nobody. nobodies arent above the law, and most of the time somebodies are, so he will just probably walk away with a slap on the wrist, and his medals taken.

who cares. who cares. i dont know. im in a who gives a crap mood today. i see why people numb themselves from news. it induces despair, and frustration. ignorance is bliss. i know how to deal though. i just dont care most of the time, but im aware.

im awesome. yipes, eca stack is kicking in.

Figures from previous studies of automobile accident victims show that from 6 to 12 percent of nonfatally injured drivers and 4 to 16 percent of fatally injured drivers had tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in their bloodstream, Dr. Heishman said. One study showed that 32 percent of drivers in a shock trauma unit in Baltimore had marijuana in their bloodstream, he noted.

The data from these laboratory studies show that marijuana impairs balance and coordination - functional components important to driving - in a dose-related way, said Dr. Heishman. These effects may be related to reported marijuana-induced impairment of automobile driving, he stated.

- www.nida.nih.gov...

Often, driving accidents don't just injure the driver.

[edit on 5-2-2009 by saint4God]

This is the next step to making Marijuana legal in the united states, why else would you think that all of the mainstream media is dumbing this situation down to, "well it was just pot". The reason being that it has already been decriminalized in massachusetts and soon all 50 states will be to follow and also soon it will be the leading cash crop in the US. Wait and see, then don't eat your words; smoke um.