Here's the deal. The guy is a monster swimmer. You really think he never smoked a little recreational dope all those years of discipline and drive and strength and devotion it took him to become a monster swimmer? Has it occurred to you that pot is a vastly overrated peril?
Do you actually believe that an individual who does "recreational" crystal meth or cocaine or vicodin or any other psycho drug, could even become an Olympic swimmer? Or perhaps you've never known such people?
Obviously, recreational pot interferes about as much as recreational booze with an athletes' ability, character, and performance. As for "promoting the lifestyle," that is hardly justified. There's a lot to be said for the Christian practice of "Live and let live."
It is not the harmless drug everyone thinks do to THC levels rising. The new trend is hydroponics other known as marijuana on steroids.
The last thing we need is a star athlete helping add to the stigma that pot is cool and harmless.
How many potheads are saying “he won a lot of gold medals so it must be harmless.”
Finny,
I agree with you 100% here. Conservatism can get a bit contradictory on a few issues, and this is one. Personally, I have both tried and sworn off marijuana. Haven’t touched the stuff in ten years. Personally, I cannot stand the typical marijuana ‘culture’ - whether the gangsta, fratboy, damn dirty hippie or the yuppie variant.
That said, I do believe alcohol to be far more dangerous a drug and the statistics and comparitive effects back me up there. The decision to outlaw marijuana and at times impose jail sentences to citizens simply exercising their right to mildly inebriate themselves (as many of us occasionally do with alcohol) is a little overboard. I hate being on the same side as your average dreadlocked liberal douche on this one, but intellectual and logical consistency sometimes hurts.
As for Phelps, he rightly will lose a lot of endorsement money now. As it stands marijuana is illegal and this culture does demand that athletes and those in the public eye (excepting Democrat politicians, of course) be role models. The fairness of that is debatable, but it is reality. He clearly is an occasional pot smoker at the least, evidenced by his familiarity with a bong. That he dominated the Olympics anyway does make a point that occasional use of marijuana (like alcohol) is nowhere near as damaging as hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine.
I don’t like pot. I generally don’t like pot smokers. But I also don’t like the government regulating and criminalizing personal choices that are nonviolent and private. I find it hard to proclaim that the government should stay the hell out of my business and allow me to say what I please, arm myself how I please and allow me to have a damn Marlboro with my bourbon at my local bar, then turn around and advocate arrest for some idiot with a bong. Make sense?
Excellent post. I like your tag line too.