yeh right watever he smoked a bong. most of us have done it. smoking is a personal choice. y do other people care if u eat more and are happy? this is a f-ed up cuntry! smoke up miky!
yeahp
· 10 months ago
Kellogg's didn't mind endorsing him when he had a drunk driving conviction, something that actually kills people.
Phil E. Drifter
· 10 months ago
It's not a war on (some) drugs (alcohol, tobacco, anyone? Those two LEGAL drugs kill almost 500,000 Americans *every year*), it's a war on minorities. I remember studying 'grandfather clauses' in grade school (google the term if you're unfamiliar with it). After the north won the civil war and outlawed slavery, corrupt politicians wrote 'grandfather clauses' to prevent the newly freed slaves from actually voting. After those were 'triumphantly' struck down as unconstitutional, Uncle Sam went and outlawed the *naturally growing substances* that minorities were using (instead of drinking the white man's alcohol).
Read tinyurl.com/1mn and tinyurl.com/potconviction for more info.
Janette Toral
· 10 months ago
Making it legal can have the product be done supporting some standards or process like what tobacco/cigarette has. Its medicinal properties can also be tapped and put into good use.
Until laws are changed, it seems Phelps can only play the sorry card to save whatever he has left.
Rick
· 10 months ago
It is the duty of a responsible citizen to disobey bad laws.
mik
· 10 months ago
I'm all for legalising every single drug on the planet - but do you know who the biggest financial supporters (by a LONG way) of the drug war are? Tobacco and alcohol companies. The distinction between 'allowed' and 'not allowed' drugs ensures their profits keep coming, which in turn ensures more propaganda and prisons to continue the fight against drugs, etc.
Luc
· 10 months ago
It is the hypocrisy that drives me crazy. Compared with the wrongdoings in Washington and elsewhere in our country, catching Michael Phelps smoking marijuana doesn't even rate up there in the top 10. Let's be serious. I'm all for boycotting Kelloggs.
bc bud
· 10 months ago
the united states is a cesspool of ignorance and stupidity when it comes to drug laws and foreign wars...the sooner you folks realize that the better
victor
· 10 months ago
go phelps! he should be throwing he own parties instead of going into envious crowds of under achieving college students
Will Holcomb
· 10 months ago
I think the only mistake the Phelps made was pussing out and covering his ass when he should own up to the role model that he is and use his influence to get some obviously broken laws fixed.
The War on Drugs is being lost slowly rather than quickly because famous people are working so hard to keep their fame that they don't stand up for anything. If Phelps, who has to know that smoking up is not necessarily bad, would have taken a stand and used his celebrity to actually make a change in the world I would admire him a hell of a lot more than I do simply because he swims really fast.
someone
· 10 months ago
everyone's missing the big picture. kellogs was obviously pressured into dropping Phelps by some higher anti-drug political powers. fuck politics.
life long toker
· 10 months ago
i love reading peoples' idiotic reasons to keep pot illegal. it makes me laugh :)
SunflowerPipes
· 10 months ago
Michael Phelps is an American Hero. He stood tall and made America proud at the Beijing Olympics. This is how America treats its heroes, we forget all of the hard work Michael Phelps did to achieve his task, we forget the pride we felt with the each gold medal, we forget how Phelps helped America to be competitive against a Chinese when they planned on winning all of the gold’s, we forget all of those things and hang a man for smoking a glass pipe at a college party. It is time that we as a country stand up for the rights of the individual, it’s time we stand together with our neighbors and take collective control of our destinies. Write a congressman or a senator any of them; Imagine the weight of millions of emails calling for a change in policy. In this moment in America anything is possible just Google the email address of your representative and send him or her short email. It will take 10 minutes but then you have taken responsibility for change. A senator considers each email as representative of 2 thousand voters. SunflowerPipes.com
Drew
· 10 months ago
Lots of things are bad for our bodies, but we still do them. Its basically all about having the choice to do so. If marijuana is legalized or at least decriminalized it can be monitored by the FDA and they can give all the warnings they want for the stuff and let us decide what we want to do with it. Its our bodies, and we should be able to do to them as we wish without prosecution by someone that doesn't live our lives, that's all I'm fighting for.
Lets make 2009 the year that we end this idiotic notion that marijuana is the cause of all of life's problems.
scytherius
· 10 months ago
Exactly!
The War on Drugs, ESPECIALLY on pot, is ridiculous. Every damned study on the planet show's that pot isn't bad for you and that alcohol wil kill you.
Don't be sorry Michael!
Oh yeah, boycott Kellogs
jena
· 10 months ago
He is not really sorry, and he will continue to do it. This is just to clear his image . Plus this proves that M does not do much wrong and is not infer that it causes failure or success. Correlation does not infer causation. Great work.
soylent green
· 10 months ago
Hear hear. Go, Rabbi, go :)
Phelps won a metric buttload of olympic gold medals in swimming, events where the difference between gold and "good job" is measured in hundreths of a second....seems like it makes him MORE of a badass if he's toking up as well.
Marijuana is one of the most benign substances you can put into your body -- far less dangerous than high-fructose corn syrup or pharmaceutical poisons. My wife has bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. She takes 15 pills every day to try to keep her mental state stable. It doesn't really work, but you know what does? Pot. All by itself, it can replace ALL the pharmaceuticals she takes.
Joseph
· 10 months ago
Rabbi, very well said. America, wake up and grow some balls! Stop letting the police state tell you how to live your lives. It is not for them to decide. Stop paying your taxes until the politicians start making laws in accordance with what we the people want and not what the c.i.a./d.e.a./justice/prison system want so they can get richer. Take the power back, this is about far more than just some stupid drugs. This is about all of our rights to think and live free from oppression.
MELODY
· 10 months ago
WHO EVER TOOK THE PICTURE TO MAKE MONEY AND RUIN MICHAEL'S FUTURE, SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. PEOPLE WILL DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY THESE DAY. SO HE SMOKED POT---HE ALSO HAS HOW MANY GOLD METALS???????
Matik72
· 10 months ago
Good read, Anthony! I concur! :-)
Rabbi Daniel Brenner
· 10 months ago
Great post. I hope that my words can amplify your message....
Why I am Boycotting Kellogg’s By Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner
I love Special K cereal – it was my mom’s preferred brand when I was growing up (dad likes Shredded Wheat) and I continue to eat it and buy it for my kids. Two of them love it. But daddy isn’t buying it anymore.
When I heard this morning that Kellog’s was pulling their endorsement relationship with swimmer Michael Phelps because of a photograph of him smoking marijuana I knew that it was time to find a new favorite cereal.
I have strong feelings on this issue for a personal reason. One of my close friends from childhood wrestled with a drug addiction and because he purchased drugs, he ended up in Federal prison. Hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars went to imprisoning him - a non-violent and generally productive member of society – not to mention the devoted father to his young son. What he needed, desperately, was treatment. Instead, our society continues to send the message that if you try drugs, even relatively mild drugs, you should be barred from employment and treated as a pariah. This is the very message that Kellog’s is sending today.
But my real anger on this issue comes from another direction.
Thirteen years ago one of my friends was killed by a drunk driver. She was visiting her mom and went out with a group of her friends from high school. She was in the back seat of a small car when a drunk driver rear ended them. She was in a coma for two days before she died.
When Phelps was arrested for DUI, Kellogg’s did not think that this was reason to not have him as a spokesman?
Kellogg’s should immediately release a statement explaining why drunk driving was acceptable in their eyes and smoking marijuana is a reason for someone to lose their job. Until they explain their position, I encourage everyone to buy other cereals and to let the Kellog’s corporation know that their public message is rotting our sense of responsibility and morality the way that Frosted Flakes is rotting the teeth of our children.
thepete
· 10 months ago
But drugs *are* for losers.
;)
I think we both made some good points on this, but I'm only half-kidding above. I think Phelps should be sorry for doing something that is bad for him. Like it or not, he's a role model and needs to realize that smoking anything is bad for his body and when people (kids and adults) see him do something, they're going to feel more comfortable doing it to.
I agree that MJ should be made legal, but lets not lose sight of what is good for our bodies and what is bad. Nor should we lose sight of what's good for our brains and what isn't--our culture is completely bereft of role models. Phelps is someone who a lot of us could look up to. Not any more. He willfully does things that are bad for him. Like smoking and eating Corn Flakes. ;P
Addy
· 10 months ago
Not one has proved that marijuana is bad for health! how can u say so? i have been smoking it for 13 years now and i dont even remember when was the last time I went to see a doc.
thepete
· 10 months ago
Haha, I could make a joke about your memory, but instead I'll direct you to this article:
In short, "Young men who smoke marijuana are more likely to develop an aggressive form of testicular cancer than those who have never tried the drug, a study has found."
So, thanks but no thanks! Plus inhaling smoke of any kind is bad for your lungs, period--I don't need a study to tell me that. Sure, once a month or something isn't going to kill you, but logically, inhaling any kind of smoke will limit the amount of oxygen that reaches your blood stream. That's bad. And now it raises young men's odds of getting cancer. More than 'nuff said in my mind.
Anthony Citrano
· 10 months ago
Pete - one study does not a truth make. You have an anti-SMOKE bias; fine. Setting aside that there are many ways to use cannabis without smoke (which drastically dilutes the relevance of your comments to this POLICY discussion)... I'll speak of facts and risks for a moment: sugar intake DRAMATICALLY increases your odds of premature death (diabetes, heart disease, etc.). Driving a car dramatically increases your odds of accidental death. More than a drink or two a week increases your odds for any number of serious accidents and illnesses. I'll assume you do none of these things because I know you're intellectually consistent. Look, this is a policy debate not a personal-health-decision debate. My point is that government ought not be telling people what they can and cannot ingest. I do not want to turn this into a debate of the various risks and rewards. That's not a role for society nor of a government of free people.
thepete
· 10 months ago
You're right, I don't drink, or drive (I live in NYC) and I generally stay away from "foods" that are processed or refined. You're also right in that I do have an anti-smoke bias--which I choose to call a pro-health bias.
And I disagree with the kind of debate you think this is--your headline refers to whether Phelps should be sorry or not--that sounds like you're setting up a personal health debate. Regardless, my criticism of Phelps is entirely based on his personal choices in public. Him smoking a bong (in public or not) harms his credibility as someone trustworthy when it comes to health issues. Sure, cars, alcohol and sugar are bad for you, too, but smoking is, also. When an athlete does something that is bad for his or her body, your natural instinct is to assume that the bad thing isn't so bad. However, science (not to mention logic) does back up the idea that smoking anything is bad for you.
I agree, the government shouldn't be telling us what to do with our bodies--without a doubt. But that doesn't mean doing stupid things with our bodies should be viewed as OK. And since Phelps signed an endorsement deal and is a role model for kids, I'd say doing any kind of drugs is something he should be sorry for. As I think even Phelps said, he is sorry and he admits he made a 23-year-old mistake. I just hope he doesn't keep making that mistake when he's older.
But I think I've made my point, and I understand where you're coming from.
Jake
· 10 months ago
The reason you're wrong is that there wouldn't be any public rage over Phelps getting caught eating Froot Loops (Kellogg's irony unintended) or drinking a beer. The ire was over the illegality.
So while yes, you may have an intellectual point that unhealthy behavior damages one's credibility in the area of health, you're putting on blinders and allowing a disproportionate social bias to color your thinking.
Perhaps you would claim to be just as judgmental if someone snapped a photo of Phelps eating a Snickers bar, but I doubt it.
sh2master
· 10 months ago
Ya? Well SO WHAT?? What if he LIKES it? Like millions of Americans do? It IS ok to smoke. It kills NO ONE, and the chances of getting cancer from it are the smallest you've ever seen. It CAN help people, and not just people in pain. For some, indeed many, it provides peace of mind, and an exploration of new perspectives. ------------- For those of you who've never smoked, you've probably heard of "mind exploration" a lot. You've probably never thought much of it; that it's just what "those stoners" talk about. You should give more thought to this.
"Mind Exploration." Don't assume that it has zero value to society just because it seems to not help one physically. That would be narrow-minded; and, deep inside, you think you might know it. But you're just going to ignore this. Am I right?
kurt
· 10 months ago
In a democratic nation one should have the decision to smoke reefer. :P
gregorylent
· 10 months ago
i am going with your point of view, it is mature, wise beyond the collective wisdom of the culture ...
from the pov of the mystic, pot has some damaging effects to the subtle body ... but that is not the point here ...
the point is, america is an immature culture with a destructive tendency towards political correctness ... and the corporate mind seems to most clearly be the barometer of the public mind ... we can see it in the economy, we can see it in the public ...
we are not a serious country, not at all .. emotionally, for me, it is better to give up on the specifics of the american drama, and put my mind towards the larger world game, birthing whole-systems thinking as much as possible ... america is just not very relevant to that in many ways ...
'tis ok, things are meant to come and go, rise and fall, there is beauty in that ..
enjoy, nice post ..
gregory lent
Anthony Citrano
· 10 months ago
Gregory, thanks - as always I love your insights... still missing you over on FF! ;)
Chris
· 10 months ago
Fred Phelps should be praised for competing honestly. But instead he is berated for using drugs that are not even used for performance enhancement. He has been insulted publicly for an act that clearly has nothing to do with performance. But hey we let foreigners take home medals when they are clearly on performance enhancing drugs without even a slap on the wrist. Its just too inconvenient for us to inconvenience those that clearly cheat. Fred Phelps does not use performance enhancing drugs. He competes naturally and honestly. This is how he is treated in the face of his hard work. There are many Americans that have smoked marijuana at least once in their lives. Likewise, there are plently of Americans willing to make a buck off of someone elses suffering because of their jealousy and ignorance. I like the way America treats it's honest competitors. Simply disgusting........Kelloggs can go fuck themselves, Fred Phelps does not need their capitalist, exploitative, and unhealthy image to make him look good. Behind that tiger is a ruthless machine incapable of accepting human behavior for what it is. My advice to Fred Phelps: If you want your contract back rott your teeth, develop diabetes mellitus type 2, and dont forget take performance enchancing steroids. If they can respect you for competing honestly, they dont deserve your honesty. Sport is dead.
V
· 10 months ago
I think you mean Micheal Phelps.
Fred Phelps, on the other hand, should be sodomized with a cactus.
M
· 10 months ago
Good call, on both counts!
Dave
· 10 months ago
In my experience, marijuana has been a performance enhancer. I was a place kicker in high school and practicing while high helped me fine-tune my technique. It really improves your focus and awareness of your body. I wouldn't be surprised if other athletes have used it (golfers, archers, rifle shooters, bowlers, etc. all could benefit). That being said, there is no reason for it to be illegal, or banned by competitive sports agencies. Marijuana is a natural product with no health risks other than smoke inhalation, which can be minimized or eliminated. No one has ever been chastised for drinking coffee or tea before competing in sports, so why should marijuana be any different?
Demonantis
· 10 months ago
I understand that you favour the legalization of dope. You attack the fact we are putting people in jail because of it. If it is illegal then you should accept the consequences of your decision. Which unfortunately means jail time. Until it is legal you shouldn't smoke it, end of story. That doesn't mean don't fight for the right though.
That does not mean that the laws are wrong. They are terrible and do not justify the dangers of a person smoking dope. The most effective argument for keeping it illegal is the medical expenses that have to be unfairly covered by peoples taxes. The government could easily recoup that with a tax, like they already perform with cigarettes. Why is it then that you would likely get a heavier sentence then someone that just robbed a store.
Plus, I would consider almost all of those policy makers keeping it illegal are hypocritical. The president has smoked and the president before him. People looked at it as a struggle that they overcame and confers them with wisdom. Who knows who all have smoked dope. Who really cares. If it is not destroying your life, how bad can it be? It just allows people to look at the world in a different way. A way they want to look at the world.
Ad We
· 10 months ago
However, if we refrain from smoking it it slowly fades away, which is the goal of our drug policies. They win if we allow that to happen and you can guarantee that if they see they're plan as being 'successful' the laws are not going to be changed any time soon. What needs to be done is everyone who smokes marijuana, should smoke more. Dispose of roaches in public places for everyone to see them. Wear clothes that advocate it's use. The more it's out there, the less taboo it becomes and the closer to are to our, the people's, goal. Civil disobedience is the only way to get things done in this country.
Yortling Colon
· 10 months ago
Dude. "Dispose of roaches"? The only way I "dispose" of a roach is by exhalation.
Ed
· 10 months ago
Here her
sh2master
· 10 months ago
Yes!! That's the fucking spirit!
hugolove
· 10 months ago
Demonantis, you are a cock. If someone in china goes onto an international news website, and is then executed by the chinese communist regime, should he have to accept the concequences of his actions?
Your argument seems to state that the lawmakers in any given country have complete sovereignty over our lives and freedoms, and that any law passed and any action taken in defense of that law is justified.
Perhaps you should step down from your ivory tower and attempt to live in a real repressive regime before you spout such utter toss in public.
a guy
· 10 months ago
the argument that lawmakers can do whatever they want and be justified is at least in part true, in so far as the people that make up the constituency have allowed that lawmaker, judicial system or, repressive regime to exist. the will of the majority of the power will always be expressed by the justice system in any society. if you dont like it then change it, but if no one else wants to change it with you then you are wrong, sorry, game over, enjoy the repression.
Novakane
· 10 months ago
I think the real lesson here is....Dont allow douche bags to take photos of you in precarious situations.
Ben
· 10 months ago
Demontitus, I wish i had the source of the study, but people who smoke pot have less health insurance expenses, and get sick alot less then non-potsmokers
Jevon_MJ
· 10 months ago
Ben youre spot on m8...
sh2master
· 10 months ago
Woa! Seriously? Awesome.
Mr. Glass pipes
· 2 months ago
The guy is an amazing athlete, I don't know why people were on his case anyway - he is young, popular and should be allowed to have fun. I mean even Bill Clinton admitted to trying marijuana and so do a big part of the population. Phelps had to put up with so much abuse from the same people who were so proud of him during the Olympic games. The fact is weed is really not harmful to anyone and is just an easy target for the war on drugs program. Bottom line: we should be proud of him for his athletic abilities and support him. http://www.basinpipes.com
wickednix
· 10 months ago
He should have never admitted anything... there's no way to prove what was in that bong. It could have been tobacco, that would have been my story and I would have stuck to it.
Tiredguy
· 10 months ago
His apology was literally just "I apologize for smoking out of a bong". He never said what he smoked.
Kevin
· 10 months ago
OK....
Geez...
Phelps screwed up. He's new to being a public figure and unfortunately he hasn't learned to hide stuff yet. Ya gotta do that shit when you're a public figure. Kellogs....can't blame them. they are trying to perpetuate role models for kids and their main boy just broke the law and crossed the "drug barrier". OK...so its political and financial. Can't blame em even though I'm sure nobody at Kellogs gives a rats ass beyond the "damage contol" measure they had to take.
As far as legalising etc, this needs to be looked at and discussed. I think it should be legalised and taxed. 21 or over, maybe 18...set some limits like booze...but lets get real here. The sad thing is the poor people who suffer from pain and can get freakin morphine but not the analgesic effects of THC. But then there all those bastard regular stoners who play the "ILL" card with their NORML tee shirts and become fodder for the anti pot legalisers to point at and say...look they just want to get high. Gotta agree with them if its true. Put it this way....the people who are trying soooooo hard to sell sell the benefits of hemp rope, clothing, shampoo, seeds, tampons, paper, hats, blah blah blah are all smokers. Give up trying to get it legal by selling it on its secondary uses. (OK so I made up tampons)
Point is, I've never met a person who loves hemp that wasn't a smoker. If I did I'd think they we're pretty damn strange. A fetish perhaps? What do they think about rayon?
Keep it real. If fighting for smoking rights, don't disguise it as something else. If you're not sick don't F it up for people in pain...
Be honest and eventually society will change and the "crime rate" will drop and blacks who are incarcareted for MJ offenses where whites aren't will be given a pass and suddenly crime is down, blacks aren't a threat and the war on drugs becomes a tax on drugs where we all benefit. I think its important to note for what its worth that I don't even smoke dope. But I can clearly see how it needs t be addressed responsibly and with an open mind.
Ciao! Kevin
But really, until that nhappens
Michael Phelps
· 10 months ago
I don't think people who are selling and making hemp products are necessarily all stoners. In fact, I had a hemp wallet and made hemp bracelets when I was "straight edge"; it wasn't for years til I actually smoked. Maybe you would've thought I was strange. Hemp is used as an alternative not because it's related to the smokable bud, but because it's an incredibly versatile and renewable resource. Henry Ford even used hemp to make plastic parts and fuel for the first model T's. It doesn't degrade the soil like cotton and doesn't require a huge lots of land to be cleared like paper forests. The truth is, there really are a lot of uses for the plant other than feeling better. This article is about how silly and unjust our laws regarding it are. The fact that they also prevent the plant's other amazing uses to achieve much more widespread cultivation further adds to the point(maybe even exceeds it(in practical purposes(not like we're practical anyway))).
Besides, society doesn't just "change". That's also a point of this article. We have to make it change by standing up and disagreeing.
Baka-Penguin
· 10 months ago
"But then there all those bastard regular stoners who play the "ILL" card with their NORML tee shirts and become fodder for the anti pot legalisers to point at and say...look they just want to get high. Gotta agree with them if its true." Who cares if stoners just want to 'get high?' I'd rather people just getting high then getting drunk, beating their wives and children, killing others in car accidents, etc.
"the people who are trying soooooo hard to sell sell the benefits of hemp rope, clothing, shampoo, seeds, tampons, paper, hats, blah blah blah are all smokers. Give up trying to get it legal by selling it on its secondary uses." First, Industrial Hemp contains little-to-no THC, so it doesn't get you high. Secondly, so many countries grow industrial hemp for those and thousands of other uses. Why does America shun a beneficial harmless, drug-less crop?
"Keep it real. If fighting for smoking rights, don't disguise it as something else. If you're not sick don't F it up for people in pain..." Being sick or just smoking casually, it shouldn't matter. If Tobacco and Alcohol are perfectly legal and regulated why not Cannabis? It's virtually harmless, especially compared to the Tobacco and Alcohol, or other illegal drugs.
Anyways, what it really boils down to is human rights. Why does the government get to decide what I do with my body if I'm not harming others? I don't think drugs should be illegal at all, though some should be more regulated than others. Cannabis could be sold along side tobacco and alcohol for great tax benefits. While I would, personally, never dabble in other substances, that doesn't mean I get to tell others they can't.
No stoner is being dishonest when they quote other reasons Cannabis should be legal. It's merely that, more reasons why the government needs to stop wasting our tax dollars on failed policies that are archaic and draconian.
gah
· 10 months ago
omfg i am so tired of this. KELLOGS WAS ALREADY GOING TO DROP PHELPS WHEN HIS CONTRACT RAN OUT
now their just using this as an excuse which still isnt right but jeez get your effing facts straight
All Comments
Read tinyurl.com/1mn and tinyurl.com/potconviction for more info.
Until laws are changed, it seems Phelps can only play the sorry card to save whatever he has left.
The War on Drugs is being lost slowly rather than quickly because famous people are working so hard to keep their fame that they don't stand up for anything. If Phelps, who has to know that smoking up is not necessarily bad, would have taken a stand and used his celebrity to actually make a change in the world I would admire him a hell of a lot more than I do simply because he swims really fast.
SunflowerPipes.com
Lets make 2009 the year that we end this idiotic notion that marijuana is the cause of all of life's problems.
The War on Drugs, ESPECIALLY on pot, is ridiculous. Every damned study on the planet show's that pot isn't bad for you and that alcohol wil kill you.
Don't be sorry Michael!
Oh yeah, boycott Kellogs
Phelps won a metric buttload of olympic gold medals in swimming, events where the difference between gold and "good job" is measured in hundreths of a second....seems like it makes him MORE of a badass if he's toking up as well.
Marijuana is one of the most benign substances you can put into your body -- far less dangerous than high-fructose corn syrup or pharmaceutical poisons. My wife has bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. She takes 15 pills every day to try to keep her mental state stable. It doesn't really work, but you know what does? Pot. All by itself, it can replace ALL the pharmaceuticals she takes.
Why I am Boycotting Kellogg’s
By Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner
I love Special K cereal – it was my mom’s preferred brand when I was growing up (dad likes Shredded Wheat) and I continue to eat it and buy it for my kids. Two of them love it. But daddy isn’t buying it anymore.
When I heard this morning that Kellog’s was pulling their endorsement relationship with swimmer Michael Phelps because of a photograph of him smoking marijuana I knew that it was time to find a new favorite cereal.
I have strong feelings on this issue for a personal reason. One of my close friends from childhood wrestled with a drug addiction and because he purchased drugs, he ended up in Federal prison. Hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars went to imprisoning him - a non-violent and generally productive member of society – not to mention the devoted father to his young son. What he needed, desperately, was treatment. Instead, our society continues to send the message that if you try drugs, even relatively mild drugs, you should be barred from employment and treated as a pariah. This is the very message that Kellog’s is sending today.
But my real anger on this issue comes from another direction.
Thirteen years ago one of my friends was killed by a drunk driver. She was visiting her mom and went out with a group of her friends from high school. She was in the back seat of a small car when a drunk driver rear ended them. She was in a coma for two days before she died.
When Phelps was arrested for DUI, Kellogg’s did not think that this was reason to not have him as a spokesman?
Kellogg’s should immediately release a statement explaining why drunk driving was acceptable in their eyes and smoking marijuana is a reason for someone to lose their job. Until they explain their position, I encourage everyone to buy other cereals and to let the Kellog’s corporation know that their public message is rotting our sense of responsibility and morality the way that Frosted Flakes is rotting the teeth of our children.
;)
I think we both made some good points on this, but I'm only half-kidding above. I think Phelps should be sorry for doing something that is bad for him. Like it or not, he's a role model and needs to realize that smoking anything is bad for his body and when people (kids and adults) see him do something, they're going to feel more comfortable doing it to.
I agree that MJ should be made legal, but lets not lose sight of what is good for our bodies and what is bad. Nor should we lose sight of what's good for our brains and what isn't--our culture is completely bereft of role models. Phelps is someone who a lot of us could look up to. Not any more. He willfully does things that are bad for him. Like smoking and eating Corn Flakes. ;P
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/09/t...
In short, "Young men who smoke marijuana are more likely to develop an aggressive form of testicular cancer than those who have never tried the drug, a study has found."
So, thanks but no thanks! Plus inhaling smoke of any kind is bad for your lungs, period--I don't need a study to tell me that. Sure, once a month or something isn't going to kill you, but logically, inhaling any kind of smoke will limit the amount of oxygen that reaches your blood stream. That's bad. And now it raises young men's odds of getting cancer. More than 'nuff said in my mind.
And I disagree with the kind of debate you think this is--your headline refers to whether Phelps should be sorry or not--that sounds like you're setting up a personal health debate. Regardless, my criticism of Phelps is entirely based on his personal choices in public. Him smoking a bong (in public or not) harms his credibility as someone trustworthy when it comes to health issues. Sure, cars, alcohol and sugar are bad for you, too, but smoking is, also. When an athlete does something that is bad for his or her body, your natural instinct is to assume that the bad thing isn't so bad. However, science (not to mention logic) does back up the idea that smoking anything is bad for you.
I agree, the government shouldn't be telling us what to do with our bodies--without a doubt. But that doesn't mean doing stupid things with our bodies should be viewed as OK. And since Phelps signed an endorsement deal and is a role model for kids, I'd say doing any kind of drugs is something he should be sorry for. As I think even Phelps said, he is sorry and he admits he made a 23-year-old mistake. I just hope he doesn't keep making that mistake when he's older.
But I think I've made my point, and I understand where you're coming from.
So while yes, you may have an intellectual point that unhealthy behavior damages one's credibility in the area of health, you're putting on blinders and allowing a disproportionate social bias to color your thinking.
Perhaps you would claim to be just as judgmental if someone snapped a photo of Phelps eating a Snickers bar, but I doubt it.
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For those of you who've never smoked, you've probably heard of "mind exploration" a lot. You've probably never thought much of it; that it's just what "those stoners" talk about. You should give more thought to this.
http://www.miqel.com/entheogens/francis_crick_d...
"Mind Exploration." Don't assume that it has zero value to society just because it seems to not help one physically. That would be narrow-minded; and, deep inside, you think you might know it. But you're just going to ignore this. Am I right?
from the pov of the mystic, pot has some damaging effects to the subtle body ... but that is not the point here ...
the point is, america is an immature culture with a destructive tendency towards political correctness ... and the corporate mind seems to most clearly be the barometer of the public mind ... we can see it in the economy, we can see it in the public ...
we are not a serious country, not at all .. emotionally, for me, it is better to give up on the specifics of the american drama, and put my mind towards the larger world game, birthing whole-systems thinking as much as possible ... america is just not very relevant to that in many ways ...
'tis ok, things are meant to come and go, rise and fall, there is beauty in that ..
enjoy, nice post ..
gregory lent
Fred Phelps, on the other hand, should be sodomized with a cactus.
That does not mean that the laws are wrong. They are terrible and do not justify the dangers of a person smoking dope. The most effective argument for keeping it illegal is the medical expenses that have to be unfairly covered by peoples taxes. The government could easily recoup that with a tax, like they already perform with cigarettes. Why is it then that you would likely get a heavier sentence then someone that just robbed a store.
Plus, I would consider almost all of those policy makers keeping it illegal are hypocritical. The president has smoked and the president before him. People looked at it as a struggle that they overcame and confers them with wisdom. Who knows who all have smoked dope. Who really cares. If it is not destroying your life, how bad can it be? It just allows people to look at the world in a different way. A way they want to look at the world.
Your argument seems to state that the lawmakers in any given country have complete sovereignty over our lives and freedoms, and that any law passed and any action taken in defense of that law is justified.
Perhaps you should step down from your ivory tower and attempt to live in a real repressive regime before you spout such utter toss in public.
http://www.basinpipes.com
Geez...
Phelps screwed up.
He's new to being a public figure and unfortunately he hasn't learned to hide stuff yet. Ya gotta do that shit when you're a public figure. Kellogs....can't blame them. they are trying to perpetuate role models for kids and their main boy just broke the law and crossed the "drug barrier". OK...so its political and financial. Can't blame em even though I'm sure nobody at Kellogs gives a rats ass beyond the "damage contol" measure they had to take.
As far as legalising etc, this needs to be looked at and discussed. I think it should be legalised and taxed. 21 or over, maybe 18...set some limits like booze...but lets get real here. The sad thing is the poor people who suffer from pain and can get freakin morphine but not the analgesic effects of THC. But then there all those bastard regular stoners who play the "ILL" card with their NORML tee shirts and become fodder for the anti pot legalisers to point at and say...look they just want to get high. Gotta agree with them if its true. Put it this way....the people who are trying soooooo hard to sell sell the benefits of hemp rope, clothing, shampoo, seeds, tampons, paper, hats, blah blah blah are all smokers. Give up trying to get it legal by selling it on its secondary uses. (OK so I made up tampons)
Point is, I've never met a person who loves hemp that wasn't a smoker. If I did I'd think they we're pretty damn strange. A fetish perhaps? What do they think about rayon?
Keep it real. If fighting for smoking rights, don't disguise it as something else.
If you're not sick don't F it up for people in pain...
Be honest and eventually society will change and the "crime rate" will drop and blacks who are incarcareted for MJ offenses where whites aren't will be given a pass and suddenly crime is down, blacks aren't a threat and the war on drugs becomes a tax on drugs where we all benefit. I think its important to note for what its worth that I don't even smoke dope. But I can clearly see how it needs t be addressed responsibly and with an open mind.
Ciao! Kevin
But really, until that nhappens
Besides, society doesn't just "change". That's also a point of this article. We have to make it change by standing up and disagreeing.
Who cares if stoners just want to 'get high?' I'd rather people just getting high then getting drunk, beating their wives and children, killing others in car accidents, etc.
"the people who are trying soooooo hard to sell sell the benefits of hemp rope, clothing, shampoo, seeds, tampons, paper, hats, blah blah blah are all smokers. Give up trying to get it legal by selling it on its secondary uses."
First, Industrial Hemp contains little-to-no THC, so it doesn't get you high. Secondly, so many countries grow industrial hemp for those and thousands of other uses. Why does America shun a beneficial harmless, drug-less crop?
"Keep it real. If fighting for smoking rights, don't disguise it as something else.
If you're not sick don't F it up for people in pain..."
Being sick or just smoking casually, it shouldn't matter. If Tobacco and Alcohol are perfectly legal and regulated why not Cannabis? It's virtually harmless, especially compared to the Tobacco and Alcohol, or other illegal drugs.
Anyways, what it really boils down to is human rights. Why does the government get to decide what I do with my body if I'm not harming others? I don't think drugs should be illegal at all, though some should be more regulated than others. Cannabis could be sold along side tobacco and alcohol for great tax benefits. While I would, personally, never dabble in other substances, that doesn't mean I get to tell others they can't.
No stoner is being dishonest when they quote other reasons Cannabis should be legal. It's merely that, more reasons why the government needs to stop wasting our tax dollars on failed policies that are archaic and draconian.
now their just using this as an excuse which still isnt right but jeez get your effing facts straight