When I saw Michael Phelps' name and face all over media over the last couple of days, I thought it had to be because:
(A) He found a way to win even more gold medals.
(B) He was apologizing for his awful performance hosting "Saturday Night Live."
(C) He was stepping down from a potential White House job due to "tax problems."
(D) He's laying down tracks with Timbaland for a new album droppin' in the fall.
(E) All of the above.
I could NEVER have expected the horrible truth...
MICHAEL PHELPS TOOK A (sweet) HIT FROM A BONG!!!
I'll give you all a moment to collect yourselves, wipe the tears away, say a prayer...
Notice the sarcasm? Good...
So let me get this straight...a 23-year-old young man who has dedicated his life through years and years of practice and competition to be the best is his field and represent this country proudly in the Olympics...a young man who has earned EIGHT gold medals in 2008...is being crucified because he went to a party at the college where the girls he was seeing at the time was attending and took at least one pull from a bong.
You'll excuse me if I find it just a WEE bit hypocritical that we, as a country, are supposed to condemn a young man for his marijuana use when alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug abuse is running rampant in this country.
A couple of things to consider:
* In 2007, an estimated 12,998 people died in alcohol-impaired traffic crashes involving a driver with an illegal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08 or greater (constituting 31.7% of the 41,059 total traffic fatalities).1
* In 2007, approximately 19.8% of all U.S. adults (18years of age or older) were cigarette smokers.2
* Every day, an estimated 2,500 youth (12-17) abuse a prescription drug for the very first time.3
Now I'm not going to suddenly turn into one of those "legalize-marijuana-and-the-world-will-be-a-better-place-MAN!" people who can tell you how to make a tampon out of hemp, and I'm not here to say that alcohol and tobacco should be criminalized. I think I'm just tired....tired of all the bullshit "holier-than-thou" attitude we have toward certain things. See, we as a society like to say one thing and do another...it's the old "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" mindset that's been around since our Founding Fathers first invented the airplane and The Wright Brothers dumped tea in Boston Harbor. You know what I'm talking about and you may not even realize it. Porn is a BILLION dollar industry, yet no one seems to watch it. We give an R rating to a movie with naked boobs, but a PG-13 rating to movie in which a guy spends the entire film trying to kill (in scary, horrific ways) a teenage babysitter...AND THE KIDS SHE'S BABYSITTING! The Super Bowl is sponsored by beer companies, and drug companies plug their shit on TV like they were selling breakfast cereal or the ShamWow.
In this case, we crucify a young man for BEING a young man. He smokes pot...he goes to strip clubs...he messes around with women. Is this what a "role model" would do? YES!
If parents are going to let athletes and other celebrities be "role models" then they best be prepared to do a lot of explaining. We live in a world where EVERYTHING has a camera in it...the days of personal privacy are definitely over. Does that mean he doesn't deserve a private life? If he's fucking some girl in the pool with a beer in one hand and bong in the other, then I think we have a problem. If not...just leave him alone. Let him be a young man who enjoys life and all the experiences that come with it...good and bad. Let's stop putting people up on pedestals just so we can enjoy knocking their asses down. Your kids should admire Phelps for the hard work and commitment he has shown his sport, and the incredible amount of sportsmanship he's shown to others. But he gets to have a life...he's earned it.
Now stop bogartin' and pass that shit over...
(1) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(2) National Cancer Institute
(3) Office of National Drug Control Policy
A big Amen to you, my brother.
ReplyDeleteI say "Smoke it up Johnny....."
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ReplyDeleteIf pots relaxes you in the water as much as it does on land, he'd have come in last in the Olympics. Let the kid celebrate.
ReplyDeleteI believe in a combination of personal rights and personal responsibility. Smoke what you wanna smoke; get fucked up and its your problem. Phelps did not get fucked up, so more power to him.
ReplyDeletethe media is making such a big deal about this, he's still young and last time i checked he was still human! so let him smoke weed, have sex with a midget or tattoo his toes for all we care. the sponsors are gonna stay on his side cause they can still make money out of him...the real problem is whoever snitched on him and posted up the picture, he or she should get their ass kicked!!!!!
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