Posted on 02/03/2009 1:45:19 PM PST by King of Card Games
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Olympic superstar Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo that surfaced showing the swimmer smoking from a marijuana pipe at a University of South Carolina house party.
A spokesman for Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who is known for his tough stance on drugs, said Tuesday the department was investigating.
"Our narcotics division is reviewing the information that we have, and they're investigating what charges, if any, will be filed," said Lt. Chris Cowan, a spokesman for agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
They wouldn’t put him in jail. They’d fine him. The case would be a media circus. They’d end up spending way more money on it than they’d ever collect in fines. It wouldn’t be worth it, in financial terms, and I think it would hurt the sheriff and the prosecutor politically. I personally would send money to their opponents in the next election, as would I’m sure many other people from around the country.
No Olympic Summer Games for Myrtle Beach in 2020.
Phelps is a toxicologist now?
oh, geez, cutching at straws now??
If he is smoking it, what do you think he’s gonna call it?
DRANO??
I'm just saying that if this ever went to court, which it won't, I can hear the defense now, going through all the procedures the cops use to determine if a substance is actually an illegal drug. Phelps had neither the training, equipment or knowledge to make such a judgment.
FWIW, all Phelps needs to do is stay the hell out of SC if the Sheriff actually ever files a warrant on him.
Slow down! Nobody has suggested that you know anything about the case. You did suggest, though, that you'd bet the sheriff was looking for witnesses and I showed you a story in the local paper that confirm your suggestion.
OTOH, as a USC alumnus and parent of a current USC-Columbia student, I am all for sheriff Lott's stand on drugs. If I lived in Richland county he could count on my vote!
I tell you what, I sure hope we don't have to meet them again this year in basketball, they gave us a hell of a game last night.
Big difference. Drunk driving ought to be a crime. Smoking weed ought to be no one else’s business
You wrote:
“Big difference. Drunk driving ought to be a crime. Smoking weed ought to be no one else’s business.”
So say you. The law says otherwise. Now what?
“Piggie”? You do know this isn’t the Huffington Post, right?
I’m not a big fan of gov’t intrusion myself. But throwing around insults that make up the bread and butter of the leftist vocab is a little weak.
“Tax it gently.”
That phrase does not exist in the gov’t lexicon.
Apparently there are more pot smoking wannabe hippies on the Right then I was aware off. Is the current Right, America's new Left? After all, the current Left is so far off the reservation they cannot be charted. It appears true conservatism is dead.
NO Bull, This moron just wants his 15 minutes of fame...
OK JO, you got your 15 minutes. The MOST you have him on is possession of paraphernalia. Sit down and STFU moron.
So seeing things like going after someone for a misdemeanor as a waste of public funds is anti-conservative?
You wrote:
“Apparently there are more pot smoking wannabe hippies on the Right then I was aware off. Is the current Right, America’s new Left? After all, the current Left is so far off the reservation they cannot be charted. It appears true conservatism is dead.”
I agree. I have noticed, especially in the last year, that there are many Freepers who are very pro-pot (they would claim to be pro-freedom, but the “freedom” is about drug use) and very anti-police. I know there are some bad cops, but most cops are basically decent people like most people. Many Freepers practically froth at the mouth over cops! Strange.
I think that many Freepers are conservative about money issues such as taxes, or national security, but become flaming leftists about pot, cops, pornography, and sex.
Coherent, comprehensive conservativism is no longer alive and well.
Since when is smoking pot indicative of one’s political values on just about anything other than they think that pot should be legal ? (well, in most cases. I’ve known a few idiot pot smokers who think the stuff should still be illegal)
You wrote:
“Where did you ever get the idea that “conservatism” necessarily means that one must be opposed to the use of one or more substances for purposes of pleasure?”
That would not be use, but abuse. A substance that is used to get stoned - and is essentially ONLY used to get stoned - would not fit into the general conservative belief in personal responsibility very well.
“That is merely an accident of history. By that notion you would have to argue that the only true conservatives are Mormons.”
No. Again, we are talking about the abuse of a thing, not the use in itself. There may be purposeful uses for marijuana that make sense, but getting stoned would be a violation of personal responsibility. Remember, Jews, Christians, Muslims, none are supposed to get drunk, intoxicated, and yet that is essentially the goal in the use of pot. It seems to me that you can not separate the monotheistic concern for personal responsibility that is at the core of conservatism’s belief in freedom while pushing for the use of an intoxicant for the sole purpose of intoxification.
And in the end, it seems to me that “conservatives” who make arguments in favor of drug use just want to get stoned without it bothering their conscience. I doubt that there were too many conservatives who would have made such an argument before the rise of the leftist radical drug culture 50 years ago. Apparently many so-called conservatives have been tainted by that leftism and mistakenly believe they are standing up for a “freedom” which has no place in conservatism.
...if so, didn't BHO admit to illegal drug use in his own book? Such a slippery slope better be approached with caution. There won't be enough prison cells X1000 in the US alone.
Hey, but the morning commutes will be great! Like Sunday 5AM.
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