Happening across the faux-furor that the London News Of The World attempted to create by publishing a party snap of swim-meet golden boy Michael Phelps sucking on a bong, reminded me that, 42 years ago, it was the same News Of The World that ran the muck-racking expose of The Rolling Stones’ drug recreations that led to the notorious Redlands bust and jail sentences for Jagger and Richards that were quickly reversed when public opinion swung behind the two musicians. The absurdity/obscenity is really that so little has changed in all those years, while hundreds of thousands - if not millions - have been jailed or had their lives ruined by law enforcement. How long do we have to go on belaboring the painfully obvious? On July 24th, 1967 a group called SOMA ran a full page in The Times of London with the headline “the law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice.” A lifetime later, the totally absurd debate is still going on. It’s tired, it’s weary, it’s asinine. Barack Obama is cautiously ignoring the whole question. Okay, so he has a shit-load of problems on his plate, but the legalization and taxation of dope could be a massive, depression-easing source of revenue. It could also end the war in Afghanistan. (But that’s a thesis I’m still working on.) Click here for more.
Good God,the kid is 22 or 23 years old,and people do dumb shit when they're young,like that.
ReplyDeleteAll it says to me,never trust anyone with camera phone into your private life. What a shame,that this is the big news story these days...
If he'd gone pub crawling, drank too much, and barfed on the sidewalk, no one would care.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing most everyone here did way more than a bong hit too.
I sure did.
I don't see what's so dumb about smoking some herb. No dumber than a martini before dinner, and a lot less dumb than lighting a cigarette.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at the public overreaction, and his need to issue a public apology. Why is this "newsworthy".
ReplyDeleteChrist, it's 2009; the public reaction should have been, "...so what?"
Public reaction is generated by media reaction. The function of Olympic "heroes" is to provide role-models for what government wants youth to be and no government is ever gonna take anything less than a dark view of the even the most casual use of psychotropics. They tend to inspire anti-authoritarian attitudes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the public really gives a damn. It's more a posture of the shreiking tabloids.
ReplyDeleteIf this guy can do bongrips and win I don't know how many swimming gold medals as well, then I think that's a pretty good advert for the herb any way you want to look at it.
ReplyDeleteKelloggs have now cancelled its sponsorhip contract with Phelps because of the dope pictures. I may stop eating Rice Krispies.
ReplyDeleteA global PotHead boycott of Kellogg's might not be a bad way of "sending a message".
ReplyDeleteOh - wv is "alogick" ...seemed worth mentioning
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