“Understandably, parents worry that their kids will emulate their idol, but the problem isn’t Phelps, who is in fact an adult. The problem is our laws — and our lies,” columnist Kathleen Parker wrote about swimmer Michael Phelps being photographed inhaling pot from a bong. Parker argues that “it’s time to recognize that all drugs are not equal — and change the laws accordingly.”
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84 Comments
I agree … we need to make cigarettes illegal as well. I think back to the number of people I have personally known whose lives were ended early and horribly by using some form of tobacco.
Wow, I find myself agreeing, again, with Kathleen Parker.
By the way, it’s pretty much guaranteed Mr. Phelps wasn’t a chronic–it takes some serious lungs to do what he did.
Legalize, regulate, tax.
Tobacco is far worse than marijuana–less inebriating perhaps, but far more toxic, and, unlike marijuana, extremely addictive.
But we’ve already seen how well Prohibition has worked–we just refuse to learn the lessons.
God, Phelps is only twenty-three – he was at a party and someone handed him a bong – get over it.
It wasn’t like he was shooting up with HGH or steroids like Clemens and Bonds, et al.
He messed up – apologized – let it go.
Why is pot worse than alcohol?
Because it’s illegal.
Why is pot illegal?
Because it’s worse than alcohol.
Ad nauseum.
Marijuana is illegal because the country club set can’t figure out how to smoke a joint without burning their fingers.
With alcohol, they just spill their Scotch on their Izod golf shirts.
Boy oh boy I gave up drinking and have been doing well with that. I have been smoking cigarettes since I was 8 y.o. Not at all good at quitting that! The old saying quitting smoking is easy I have done it a hundred times… BUT pot being legal? LOL I might give up smoking tobacco for that! Would it be cheaper then cigarettes? Rage for something that is not as addictive I should not miss it so. Or could it be I just miss that period in my life? Oh to be young and ignorant again….
dude where’s my speedo?
and so it begins.
Phelps has done more to help Marijuana than we all may realize. If the greatest Olympic athlete can take a few tokes and still go out and break world records, is it really that bad?
Try and get him to do that while drinking fifths of Jack Daniels and binging days at a time.
Everyone knows the main reason marijuana is illegal is because politicians are afraid of mothers (theirs and other peoples).
To legalize pot would require real, scientific research on its safety.
This would require spending money. Business will not do that because it is too easy for ’subsistanance farmers’ to grow to make it profitable to sell if marijuana were illegal.
Thus, the research money would have to come from the government. For this to happen, Congress would have to present a bill and vote on it.
As soon as it was presented, MADD, et al, would be all over the phones to Washington and on the news.
The middle-aged lady in her Sunday school sun-dress makes for good tv interviews and does a good emotional appeal. Congress would back down in a day.
How else was he supposed to be hungry enough for that 10,000 calorie a day diet or whatever it was? :-)
Maybe it’s not a bong, could be a sex toy and he is practicing something else.
sorry that was just wrong
Mr_Kia
Posted February 6, 2009 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
How else was he supposed to be hungry enough for that 10,000 calorie a day diet or whatever it was? :-)
—————–
I have wondered the same!
I’m behind Phelps all the way. You goody two shoes would be suprised how many people have or still do smoke a little herb. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
————-
Already did…it was a bit harsh dude.
Already did…it was a bit harsh dude.
Try ice. And fan the carburetor.
Try ice. And fan the carburetor.
———–
I did, but it hurts too much when I try to inhale the ice cubes.
Shaved ice brother, shaved ice.
Hey, have a great weekend.
What do they call a friend indeed? Phelps
Pot is a Schedule 1 drug and Crystal Methamphetamine is a Schedule 2 Drug.
Something wrong here?
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html
We’re dealing with a plant that can renew itself with ease, can grow anywhere and can make a multitude of valuable products (cheaply and efficiently). Therefore we create certain “economic diffulculties” for those big drug, textile, energy and paper manufacturer’s. Marijuana has NEVER killed anyone and actually enhances brainwave activity. Phelps has now disproven any “theories” by science that it hinders physical performance.
Marijuana users constitute 80% of the NON VIOLENT drug offenders that now occupy (uselessly) space in our nations prison system.
Pot cuts into the profit margin. End of Story.
I guarantee that the World would be a much calmer place and more peaceful if this so-called “Drug War” was ended today.
But peace offers no profit.
I’d spend the 2 hours watching this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8231634812734884936&ei=w6-MSbWqNInWqQL_59m8Cw&q=American+Drug+War+The+Last+White+Hope&hl=en
Real hero’s know the truth.
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
http://nevergetbusted.com/v2/home.html
Another former narcotics officer that speaks truth.
Complete legalization. No taxing, no limits. Grow it everywhere, smoke it like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (and Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama).
No intent was to put those in parenthesis, in the same class.
I’ll even bet that your lawyer and doctor takes a bong hit or two.
If science did a side by side test, with one person getting drunk and the other getting stoned, then turning them loose on the freeway, the drunk would probably get into or cause an accident. The stoned would be too busy buying chips at the cum and go to drive anywhere. So the drunk costs the state money, the stoner keeps people employed. It’s a no-brainer.
How else does Phelps keep up his appetite to eat 10,000 calories a day? I say that if some guy spends his life training and wins 8 gold medals that it’s not a big concern if he takes a hit to relax. Sounds like he’s earned it.
Meanwhile the uptight prudes get high off their oxycontin.
The stoner would also be traveling at a speed of about 5 mph.
One Doctor talking to another before an open heart surgery
Before I cut into Mr. Walker, I want to smoke a joint or two.
The stoner would also be traveling at a speed of about 5 mph.
Naw, the stoner would stay in and order a pizza.
Naw, the stoner would stay in and order a pizza.
—————
That’s what I would….I mean yeah, you are probably right.
Maybe that surgeon did a take a toke or two…the patient never knew.
I’ll never smoke weed with anybody but Willie again.
Phelps has done more to help Marijuana than we all may realize. If the greatest Olympic athlete can take a few tokes and still go out and break world records, is it really that bad?
****I can only hope that the next time you and yours hop on a flight to Disney World, that the flight crew is several tokes over the line sweet Jesus.
rolltide, you’d never know.
How does one “go over the line” with pot?
Fall asleep?
Most folks won’t get ripped during work. The wind down is afterwards.
#
Regular
Posted February 6, 2009 at 4:21 pm | Permalink
One Doctor talking to another before an open heart surgery
Before I cut into Mr. Walker, I want to smoke a joint or two.
=========================================
At least he wouldn’t be playing Lawrence Welk during surgery:-)
I would rather see them burn a fatty than have them talking or texting on a cell phone. Pick your poison.
#
Regular
Posted February 6, 2009 at 4:21 pm | Permalink
One Doctor talking to another before an open heart surgery
Before I cut into Mr. Walker, I want to smoke a joint or two.
============================================
Or:
#
Regular
Posted February 6, 2009 at 4:21 pm | Permalink
One Doctor talking to another before an open heart surgery:
Before I cut into Mr. Regular, let’s have a scotch or two.
Why not just make booze legal for the kids? It’s already a legal substance.
They call it a dope for a reason.
Why stop at dope?
Obama did cocaine. Hell yes!!!
Let’s do a line in his honor.
Let’s do a few lines in memory of the Bush presidency – after all, he was so stoned he couldn’t remember how much coke he did.
We can call it the “Bush/Cheney Memorial Coke Line” and snort it at an undisclosed location.
Yeah, right.
“RoaCH
Posted February 6, 2009 at 5:55 pm | Permalink
Why not just make booze legal for the kids? It’s already a legal substance.
They call it a dope for a reason.”
…from the poster named ‘roach’…
I hear also that they call it “roach-dope” for a reason…
“Try and get him to do that while drinking fifths of Jack Daniels and binging days at a time.”
Mickey Mantle; Babe Ruth.
twist one up and burn it
#
WSClark
Posted February 6, 2009 at 12:24 pm | Permalink
God, Phelps is only twenty-three – he was at a party and someone handed him a bong – get over it.
It wasn’t like he was shooting up with HGH or steroids like Clemens and Bonds, et al.
He messed up – apologized – let it go.
————
I agree with WS on his first and last sentences. Not a big deal.
Psst… Mike, it’s the age of camera phones.
Back before 1937 marijuana was legal. It was a renewable resource, a crop, even right here in Kansas. It’s an amazing plant. Not all plants are created equal. It’s the THC that has the drug. Plants can be propagated without the THC. All kinds of products can be made with hemp, clothing, rugs, soap, grain, shoes, lotion, oil. It’s completely asinine that the government doesn’t allow it as a crop, or for adult recreational smoking. Think of all the people in different market segments that could put it to good use right about now, for commerce. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean the entire population will become addicts. Alcohol is legal, but I don’t drink. It’s totally illogical. What a waste for such a versatile, renewable plant.
#
erika01
Posted February 6, 2009 at 7:27 pm | Permalink
Back before 1937 marijuana was legal. It was a renewable resource, a crop, even right here in Kansas. It’s an amazing plant. Not all plants are created equal. It’s the THC that has the drug. Plants can be propagated without the THC. All kinds of products can be made with hemp, clothing, rugs, soap, grain, shoes, lotion, oil. It’s completely asinine that the government doesn’t allow it as a crop, or for adult recreational smoking. Think of all the people in different market segments that could put it to good use right about now, for commerce. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean the entire population will become addicts. Alcohol is legal, but I don’t drink. It’s totally illogical. What a waste for such a versatile, renewable plant.
——————————-
Correct me if I’m wrong friend, but hemp, although in the same family as cannabis, is not a street drug.
Also, today’s marijuana is as I understand it, many times more potent than marijuana even twenty years ago.
Antihistamines have warning levels about not operating machinery or driving when using it. Common sense should be that marijuana users will be impaired after they partake.
I see no reason for it to be a crime.
Marijuana “users”. Man, this is the problem with the “right”…drunk Catholics/rednecks calling everyone else the “druggy” and the “dope”.
Blind, dumb sheeple.
Phelps didn’t inhale, no smoke in the tube. He was faking it like Bill Clinton.
Hemp and Cannabis are the same. And marijuana being illegal has more to do with William Randolph Hearst and Dupont not wanting to compete with hemp than because it is a dangerous drug
Paine’s post is another example of how far Left the Radicals on this blog truly are.
As an ex drunk, I can tell you first hand that pot is less dangerous than alcohol abuse. But at the same time, I know many people who use alcohol in a very mild manner, who do not even drink enough to catch more than the most slight buzz. Doing that is less dangerous than smoking pot. But many people do not use alcohol responsibly, and their abuse of it is more dangerous than smoking a joint.
Cops don’t get called out to arrest a man beating his wife after smoking a joint, but they do deal with plenty of drunks.
Personally, I think if you need a chemical of any sort to feel good, then you lack imagination, creativity, and character. Go do something nice for someone, help someone, get involved in something to make the world a better place. Trust me, keep doing that and you will feel plenty good about yourself, the world, and life in general. To need a chemical short cut to euphoria simply says a lot (not good) about you.
If your not a part of the solution to lifes problems, your ARE part of the problem. If you lack sufficient faith and need a chemical to feel good, maybe it’s time to start digging and soul searching? This goes for everyone, not just alcoholics and drug addicts. Our reliance and continued consumption of chemicals really puts a light on our inadequacies as people I think.
But this is America. I’m actually a decriminalization/legalization proponent, because it would do much to stem availability of illegal drugs to kids if it’s controlled as alchol is controlled. Yes, kids still get booze, but they can get pot easier, or crack, or meth… It should be stigmatized as bad, but a person should be able to register with the county and buy drugs, pay taxes on it, and use it ONLY in the privacy of their own home. We could educate the addicts along the way, encourage treatment, and pay for it with the taxes collected. We can stop filling out jails with non violent drug offenders, and in that empty space, throw the book at those who make drugs available to kids, or who continue to acquire their drugs through illegal means, … lock them up and throw away the key.
I want all the pot heads, supporters of weed, answer me this question.
Should dumb parents smoke their weed nightly with their 5 year daughter sitting on the couch? It has been going on for a long while too.
You may think, decriminalize it, regulate, but there is lack of responsibility when pot is used. That doper can be found operating a vehicle or power tool under the influence if something bad happens.
Do we really need weed taking place of wheat or corn being grown on farms?
People grow in their house and could sell it in a “farmers market”? Is that the fantasy?
Michael Phelps stepped out of responsible behavior, got caught being stupid in a picture and now has to learn a tough life lesson. His image is damaged, support being taken away.
Cigarettes and alcohol legal status doesn’t matter with this topic.
Weed affects personality and performance, no employer wants those workers under that influence.
No fans of music wants their musicians to use drugs on stage then go through months of rehab. How many musicians must die or damaged from their drug use?
We know performance enhancing products taint professional sports. In college sports and down to the high school level.
How many parents want their 18 year old buying pounds of weed to smoke if it was legalized? They can join the military! I don’t want our soldiers smoking weed.
Does anyone want their teenager smoking weed? Dumb as rock if you do.
A couple of you need to get a grip. Several of you need to SHARE.
I don’t do weed. The only reason I don’t is, I don’t want to go to jail. If it was legal….
Consider the aerobic capacity required to be a world class swimmer and how long Phelps can likely hold his breath.
Now consider how long Phelps could hold a bong hit…..awesome!!!
ANTI
Posted February 6, 2009 at 4:17 pm | \l “comment-516449″
The stoner would also be traveling at a speed of about 5 mph.
Heee or be setting at a stop light for like five minutes staring at the pretty lights. And of course listening to the music of many horns behind him. LOL it was then I realized “man that was some good dope!”.
Got home and after about ten minutes my dad asked “Son havn’t you ate anything today?”. But the best was going to see “Fantasia” while smoked, I do not remember much of the movie except for how colorful the animals were. Great details of them and can not recall what kind of animals there were. I have been meaning to watch the movie again this time straight. I hear it is a good movie….
If Michael Phelps was just any college kid, I’d say “sure, kids will be kids.” But this kid has the chance to lose millions of dollars in endorsements, etc. because of a bad decision.
Kinda dumb if you ask me.
and the JimJohnson post shows how extreme right wing fascist he is. Also how many right wingers don’t support small government.
The worst thing about weed is that it makes being bored tolerable, if not outright enjoyable. That’s it.
I guess cannabis cultivation/use/possession could be a ticketable “offense” (with a minimal fine), but I’d prefer to see it legalized…and taxed.
Marijuana should stay illegal.
If it were legal, CONs would start smoking it, and it wouldn’t be cool any more.
:sarcasm off:
Whoever took the picture, and let the cat out of the bag is a real DICK. People should mind their own buisness. I think the TATTLETALE should have their picture posted next to Phelps’s picture. Why not are you ASHAMED. All I can say is PAY BACKS ARE HELL.
“Personally, I think if you need a chemical of any sort to feel good, then you lack imagination, creativity, and character.”
Chemicals produced naturally in the brain are what make you feel good. Sometimes, that chemistry goes awry, and depression is the result.
An addendum: Are you saying Phelps lacks character? Christ almighty
“Should dumb parents smoke their weed nightly with their 5 year daughter sitting on the couch?”
Is it so different than dumb parents that get drunk in front of their kids? Maybe the whole debate should be about the right of people to get high….I can honestly say I think alcohol is at least as damaging, if not more so, than pot.
All kids in the world would be in foster care if the posters on this blog had their way.
And all their parents would be in jail.
So are you saying that parents who get drunk in front of their children have better values that those who smoke pot in front of their kids?
I think if we’re going to pass judgement, then we need to be consistant across the board.
Unfortunately, many, if not most, parents demostrate bad behavior in front of their kids..and as a society, we’re paying for it all the time.
The alcohol brewers and distillers will never allow weed to become legal, way too much competition.
Pleefer, while waiting for the download of your link I looked at an O’reilly segment and as usual when things don’t go his way he just stated yelling and talking about alcohol instead of what the guest was talking about. I notice when he is talking with people off site from where he is he talks a lot meaner than if they are sitting in the room with him. I hadn’t watched him for a long time because in spite of him saying he is not a hypocrite at the end of this segment, he is. Maybe this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNSlpftizbE&NR=1
Hey chooseaside look at your post time
How many people get involved in shootouts over cigarette deals gone bad? How many prison cells are occupied by people caught posessing chablis? How much do our police, court and prison system spend each year on our “war on drugs?” And after the billions of dollars, the wasted manpower, all the corruption involved, why is it still easier for a kid on the street to score a bag of weed than find a decent chocolate malt?
Face it, folks, the war was lost a long time ago. If we just admit that, we might stand a chance of regulating the drug market.
Since Kansas lost out on revenues associated with the casino trend, maybe Kansans could initiate revenues in the hemp trend. I read that almost all of Kansas was planted for the war effort, so our soil must be good! If our Indian and state-sanctioned gambling locations peddled a newly-regulated and taxable adult product, Kansas could be first-to-market in “coffee shop” tourism. Holland and Kansas, both flat, in mile sections, good cropland, and good-looking, free-thinking people. Can anyone imagine Kansas as the new hotspot for tourism? ;-D
Dave? . . . Dave’s not here, man.
No, I’m Dave.
Dave? Dave, man? Uh . . . Dave’s not here, man.
Take the illegal profits out of the hands of organized marijuana smugglers.. tax revenues for the states and… lots of LAUGHING OUT LOUD at the oddest things!!!
There is no bad mood, none, that cannot be cured by having a smoke.
“Hey chooseaside look at your post time”**WHY?
4:20 dawg.
I understand now. I put 420 in the address bar and all kinds of information came up. Just a coincidence…..I did not plan it.
I thought when I first read: “Hey chooseaside look at your post time” I thought it meant something about O’Reilly not being on the air at that time. But it was a recording of a segment of his show at that site.
Ya, I do say Phelps lacks character, in this regard. Lacks good judgement. But he is young!!! We all do, and have from time to time. I was 34 before I started to see things the way I see them, and I try to share my opinions with others in a way that will encourage them and give them different/better options. That’s all.
Let the dude alone, its a bong, and who cares, he’s a talented young man, and he made a great name for himself.. You’re just mad cause you can’t swim in the deep end.