Category | Op Ed

Olympian smokes pot, world ends

Published on February 3, 2009 by Kevin Schmidt

Time to re-think marijuana prohibition
In what was most likely the most impressive bong hit of all time, Michael Phelps used his gold medal lung capacity to land himself in hot water over toking up while crashing a house party at the University Of S.C. in Columbia. And even worse (for his reputation at least), the British tabloid News of the World also exposed how he “knocked back beers and shots of spirits” and their source revealed that “Michael came to visit Jordan but ended up just getting wasted every night.”

The tabloid’s source noted “you could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do. He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits. Michael ended up getting a little paranoid, though, because before too long he looked like he was nervous and ran out of the place.”

Phelps immediately produced a statement saying, “I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment.”

Somehow people are surprised that a 23-year-old guy who had been on a strict schedule of eating, sleeping and swimming for years let go for a couple nights doing things that most college students have done at some point. It wouldn’t even be a story if all he’d done was get bombed for a couple of nights, but taking a hit from a bong means the world has ended for Michael Phelps. It apparently means he’s hit rock bottom and betrayed his fans and the public.

As the anonymous source said in the story, “if he continues to party like that, I’d be amazed if he ever won any more medals again.”

I guess my question is, why the hell should we care that Michael Phelps took that bong hit? It’s certainly not a performance-enhancer that would benefit his swimming (although it would help him knock out his 9,000-calorie-a-day eating regimen). Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are rightly tainted by using illegal performance enhancing drugs which lead to accusations of cheating, but Phelps’ situation is completely unrelated to his swimming career.

It didn’t affect anyone directly, and as far as we know he didn’t go out and try to drive or operate heavy machinery after using it. So the only real complaint that can be made is that he did something in violation of the law.

Which begs the larger question: what is the point of keeping marijuana illegal when it is almost impossible to enforce that very law? Didn’t we learn during the 1920s that prohibiting alcohol only led to a powerful, even violent, black market? Why do so many believe alcohol should be legal, but marijuana should be prohibited?

After all, in a 2006 survey, an estimated 14.8 million Americans ages 12 or older had used marijuana at least once in the month prior to the survey, and in 2006, only about 5% of that estimated number got arrested for pot possession.

So when it’s completely obvious that the law cannot be effectively enforced, it is only there to deter people from using the substance. But there is slim evidence that the law deters people from using it. It’s more plausible that the law makes smoking marijuana taboo and more enticing for possible users.

Yet the prohibition is still supported by those who consider themselves “small-government conservatives,” and even those who complain about the nanny-state liberals obsessed with banning cigarette smoking and fighting obesity. Even the public at large opposes legalization, although the margin is shrinking. The last Gallup poll in 2005 on the subject showed 60 percent opposing and 36 supporting marijuana legalization.

Conservatives, and even President Obama, often talk about personal responsibility. It’s about time our drug policy reflected that rhetoric.