Obama vows to end DEA medical marijuana raids.
Finally.
Speaking of marijuana. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps recently had a publicity disaster when a photo of him smoking marijuana at a party surfaced. All of this caused a firestorm of protest from different corners. You have the usual moral crusaders screaming "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN, THINK OF THE CHILDREN" who might see that pic in the tabloid media. You have sponsors who may revoke endorsement deals. Even South Carolina Sheriff in the county where the photo was taken are looking into pressing charges. He offered the standard celebrity caught with hand in the cookie jar apology.
"I engaged in behavior 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."
Personally I'm rather sorry to see that he did apologize. I understand that he has endorsement deals to protect and his endorsers have every right to terminate deals with him over an illegal act that could damage his image. On the flip side we need to have a real honest discussion about drugs in this nation. I wish he would say something real, rather than such a BS insincere apology. Perhaps something like "Yes I did smoke pot, just like millions of other Americans do every year." Truth is that most pot smokers are pretty far away from the useless, unemployed, stonner image that the government and media portray. Most are employed professional people, many have happy well adjusted kids, some are even teachers. Is is the healthiest thing for someone to do; of course not. I'm sure he would never do it while in training season any more than he would go out and drink a bunch of beer while training, but what's the harm in relaxing a little bit in the off season. It is illegal, but it is less harmful than alcohol, cigarettes or many of the prescription drugs that millions of Americans abuse every year and until some people stand up and have some real talk about it that fact won't change.
Here's another site that had to weigh in with what this author called "A Letter I’d Like To See (But Won’t)"
http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/01/a-letter-id-like-to-see-but-wont/
Phelps has already been dropped by Kellogg's, who said (IIRC) that "his behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg's". However, Omega watches still stands by him.
And, I'll admit I've smoked pot a little bit. I've been an employed professional for 31 years. I haven't smoked pot in over 20 years, though, and have no desire for it. But, I drink a beer daily with dinner, as I have for many years. It simply tastes good, and helps me unwind.
When I was at an REM concert in 2004, I sat in the nosebleed seats at Madison Square Garden. People were smoking cigarettes and pot there, even though smoking is banned at MSG. The smell of pot was far more tolerable than the smell of tobacco.
When the news about Phelps came out, I was like, "So? At least they didn't catch him with a crackpipe."
I'm going to take some Xanax and some Valium and get my pipe out and have some more coffee and TOTALLY protest all that drug use by that guy. WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS ANYHOW
I don't do any drug but caffeine for personal and kinda on my high horse reasons, but the controversy here is very silly.
Thank God! Someone with branis speaks!