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DPMC Moderators: thegreenhand | tryptakid
Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps caught with cannabis pipe
- Thread starter trainwreckmolly
- Start date
Definitely gonna see him on a Weedies box soon!!
Did you sell this joke to the Colbert Report? They definitely used this joke, haha.
phr
Ex-Bluelighter
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- May 25, 2004
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Eight arrested in Michael Phelps case
wistv.com
2.9.09
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - New details have emerged about a party where Olympic champion Michael Phelps was spotted.
On Feb. 2, a British tabloid published a picture of the 14-time Olympic gold medalist using a water pipe to smoke marijuana. The picture was taken at a party in Columbia back in November when Phelps was here for a visit.
The Richland County Sheriff's Department has been taking a lot of heat from people in this country and all over the world.
They want to know why Sheriff Leon Lott is going after Michael Phelps.
Many are saying the sheriff should concentrate on more serious crimes, or at the very least, not focus solely on the Olympic champion when there were others at the party who were also breaking the law.
Now it appears the case has expanded beyond Phelps' activities.
The party took place in November at a house on Blossom Street near Five Points.
It was at that house where someone snapped the photo of Phelps taking a hit on a marijuana pipe called a bong.
Lott says the picture indicated a law was being broken in his jurisdiction. He said he couldn't ignore the violation just because Phelps is rich and famous.
We've now learned that since investigators began trying to build a case, they've made eight arrests: seven for drug possession and one for distribution. These are arrests that resulted as the sheriff's department served search warrants.
We've also learned that the department has located and confiscated that bong.
Sources say the owner of the bong was trying to sell it on eBay for as much as $100,000.
The owner, who wasn't even at the party, is one of the eight now charged.
Phelps is not one of those charged at this point, but the sheriff's department has strong evidence that matches the photo to the house on Blossom Street.
That house is in the city, but the Columbia Police Department decided not to initiate or take an active role in the investigation.
Governor Mark Sanford is also weighing in on the sheriff's actions.
On the FOX News Channel Sunday night, Geraldo Rivera asked Sanford whether Phelps should be prosecuted.
"I don't see what it gets at this point," said Sanford.
His spokesman told us Monday night Sanford is letting that quote stand.
Link!
wistv.com
2.9.09
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - New details have emerged about a party where Olympic champion Michael Phelps was spotted.
On Feb. 2, a British tabloid published a picture of the 14-time Olympic gold medalist using a water pipe to smoke marijuana. The picture was taken at a party in Columbia back in November when Phelps was here for a visit.
The Richland County Sheriff's Department has been taking a lot of heat from people in this country and all over the world.
They want to know why Sheriff Leon Lott is going after Michael Phelps.
Many are saying the sheriff should concentrate on more serious crimes, or at the very least, not focus solely on the Olympic champion when there were others at the party who were also breaking the law.
Now it appears the case has expanded beyond Phelps' activities.
The party took place in November at a house on Blossom Street near Five Points.
It was at that house where someone snapped the photo of Phelps taking a hit on a marijuana pipe called a bong.
Lott says the picture indicated a law was being broken in his jurisdiction. He said he couldn't ignore the violation just because Phelps is rich and famous.
We've now learned that since investigators began trying to build a case, they've made eight arrests: seven for drug possession and one for distribution. These are arrests that resulted as the sheriff's department served search warrants.
We've also learned that the department has located and confiscated that bong.
Sources say the owner of the bong was trying to sell it on eBay for as much as $100,000.
The owner, who wasn't even at the party, is one of the eight now charged.
Phelps is not one of those charged at this point, but the sheriff's department has strong evidence that matches the photo to the house on Blossom Street.
That house is in the city, but the Columbia Police Department decided not to initiate or take an active role in the investigation.
Governor Mark Sanford is also weighing in on the sheriff's actions.
On the FOX News Channel Sunday night, Geraldo Rivera asked Sanford whether Phelps should be prosecuted.
"I don't see what it gets at this point," said Sanford.
His spokesman told us Monday night Sanford is letting that quote stand.
Link!
slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2008
- Messages
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I wonder how many murders, rapes, muggings, car thefts, and other violent crimes were committed that same night in the same city?
Yet the sheriff chooses to go after those who peacefully smoked the flowers of a plant.
George Orwell is smiling in his grave.
Yet the sheriff chooses to go after those who peacefully smoked the flowers of a plant.
George Orwell is smiling in his grave.
AfterGlow
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- Aug 21, 2000
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- 4,544
We can all sleep better tonight knowing the world is a safer place!
AfterGlow
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- Aug 21, 2000
- Messages
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Pro-pot group smokes Kellogg for axing Phelps
'To drop him for choosing a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage'
Associated Press
Feb 10, 2009
NEW YORK - Snap, crackle ... pot?
Bursting with indignation, legions of legalize-marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe.
The leader of one of the biggest groups, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg’s action “hypocritical and disgusting,” and said he’d never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.
“Kellogg’s had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone,” said Rob Kampia, the group’s executive director. “To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people.”
Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance. They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg to vent their views.
In one sign of the campaign’s impact, the Phelps saga took precedence over the tainted peanut butter outbreak in the recorded reply on Kellogg’s consumer hot line Tuesday.
“If you would like to share your comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press one to speak to a representative,” said the recording. “If you’re calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press two now.”
From Kellogg’s media office, there was no immediate reply to a request for an assessment of the boycott campaign. A Kellogg spokeswoman, Kris Charles, said by e-mail, “Our contract with Michael Phelps was set to expire at the end of February and we made a business decision not to extend that contract.”
Last week, the company announced his contract would end and described Phelps’ conduct as “not consistent with the image of Kellogg.” Kellogg has been placing images of Phelps on the fronts of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes boxes since September, after the swimmer’s record-shattering haul of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
The groups calling for the boycott were angry at Kellogg, but also eager to use the opportunity to restate long-standing calls for decriminalization of pot.
“It’s not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other twenty-somethings do,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It’s that he did what over one hundred million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court.”
Similar commentary sounded even in mainstream media — including columns in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online questioning the rationale and effectiveness of U.S. marijuana laws.
Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief active in the push for easing marijuana laws, released a letter to Kellogg in which he pleaded for “sane, sensible, and compassionate drug policies” and suggested the company had “underestimated the country’s maturity on this issue.”
He also said he had purchased his last box of what had been his favorite cereal — Kellogg’s Mueslix.
Of Phelps’ numerous big-name sponsors, Kellogg was the only one to publicly cut ties after the pot photo emerged. While it received some support, the giant food company has also been singled out for mockery by a host of comedians, bloggers and others.
On Saturday Night Live, Seth Myers questioned whether marijuana use was in fact at odds with Kellogg’s image.
“Every one of your mascots is a wild-eyed cartoon character with uncontrollable munchies,” Myers said. “Every one of your products sounds like a wish a genie granted at a Phish concert.”
On the Huffington Post, blogger Lee Stranahan pursued that theme in a proposed petition to the company that said in part, “We believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high.”
Stranahan’s petition concluded with this call-to-arms:
“Given all these facts and the total disregard for your customer base ... we the undersigned plan to BOYCOTT your products. And we’re serious. Even though the Pop Tarts thing will be HARD.”
link
'To drop him for choosing a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage'
Associated Press
Feb 10, 2009
NEW YORK - Snap, crackle ... pot?
Bursting with indignation, legions of legalize-marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe.
The leader of one of the biggest groups, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg’s action “hypocritical and disgusting,” and said he’d never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.
“Kellogg’s had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone,” said Rob Kampia, the group’s executive director. “To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people.”
Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance. They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg to vent their views.
In one sign of the campaign’s impact, the Phelps saga took precedence over the tainted peanut butter outbreak in the recorded reply on Kellogg’s consumer hot line Tuesday.
“If you would like to share your comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press one to speak to a representative,” said the recording. “If you’re calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press two now.”
From Kellogg’s media office, there was no immediate reply to a request for an assessment of the boycott campaign. A Kellogg spokeswoman, Kris Charles, said by e-mail, “Our contract with Michael Phelps was set to expire at the end of February and we made a business decision not to extend that contract.”
Last week, the company announced his contract would end and described Phelps’ conduct as “not consistent with the image of Kellogg.” Kellogg has been placing images of Phelps on the fronts of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes boxes since September, after the swimmer’s record-shattering haul of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
The groups calling for the boycott were angry at Kellogg, but also eager to use the opportunity to restate long-standing calls for decriminalization of pot.
“It’s not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other twenty-somethings do,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It’s that he did what over one hundred million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court.”
Similar commentary sounded even in mainstream media — including columns in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online questioning the rationale and effectiveness of U.S. marijuana laws.
Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief active in the push for easing marijuana laws, released a letter to Kellogg in which he pleaded for “sane, sensible, and compassionate drug policies” and suggested the company had “underestimated the country’s maturity on this issue.”
He also said he had purchased his last box of what had been his favorite cereal — Kellogg’s Mueslix.
Of Phelps’ numerous big-name sponsors, Kellogg was the only one to publicly cut ties after the pot photo emerged. While it received some support, the giant food company has also been singled out for mockery by a host of comedians, bloggers and others.
On Saturday Night Live, Seth Myers questioned whether marijuana use was in fact at odds with Kellogg’s image.
“Every one of your mascots is a wild-eyed cartoon character with uncontrollable munchies,” Myers said. “Every one of your products sounds like a wish a genie granted at a Phish concert.”
On the Huffington Post, blogger Lee Stranahan pursued that theme in a proposed petition to the company that said in part, “We believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high.”
Stranahan’s petition concluded with this call-to-arms:
“Given all these facts and the total disregard for your customer base ... we the undersigned plan to BOYCOTT your products. And we’re serious. Even though the Pop Tarts thing will be HARD.”
link
trainwreckmolly
Bluelighter
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- Sep 15, 2008
- Messages
- 4,890
Michael Phelps` Marijuana Use Puts Focus on Debate Over the Drug
Michael Phelps` Marijuana Use Puts Focus on Debate Over the Drug
February 8, 2009
By Chuck Culpepper
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sports-marijuana8-2009feb08,0,1583371.story
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so suddenly here's marijuana -- yep, marijuana -- hogging itself another heyday, bolting into the spotlight, all but sashaying back into dialogue and shouting, "Hey, I'm still here."
Shadowed in cycles through recent decades while other legal or illegal or performance-enhancing stimulants took turns getting all the hype, marijuana has just hollered in the case of merely the most-decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps. It has tried to yell from the recent past of the Super Bowl most valuable player, who alighted at Disney World only four months after a forgotten arrest.
It has appeared this week in the suitcase of an arrested college basketball point guard at an airport, and this winter in the possession of a former Dallas receiver, and a Seattle linebacker, and a Florida State receiver, and a retired NBA forward/center, and amid a Japanese sumo wrestling scandal if you can believe such, and in November with a New York Jets defensive end, and last spring in that bellwether moment on talk radio, when Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard readily said he enjoyed an inhale.
Marijuana? Who knew? Yeah, well, OK, pretty much everybody did.
"It has been constant in terms of it being the most popular of the illicit drugs," said Roger Roffman, a professor at the University of Washington, whose study of marijuana in culture dates clear back to the Vietnam War as a social worker for the Army. Even if its relative usage doesn't match its peak from the late 1970s, Roffman said its No. 1 ranking has remained impenetrable.
It's just that news coverage and human discourse run in cycles, as Roffman reminded, and seldom has any cycle known a louder clash than a 14-time gold medalist heralded as classic Americana ramming into a photo at a party with a bong. Such a noise far occludes even the fact that Santonio Holmes, NFL superhero and honored Disney guest, logged a one-game suspension in October after Pittsburgh police pulled him over, got a whiff of his SUV and asked if he'd been smoking, whereupon, according to their report, he said, "No, but yesterday I was."
Because sports permeates everything, those keen on the marijuana issue all along have seen the case of Phelps and his multitudinous corporate sponsors as a gauge of the American mood circa 2009.
Quiet ruled for days. Then Thursday, Kellogg's halted its sponsorship of Phelps, finding his behavior "not consistent with the image of Kellogg's," the 103-year-old Michigan cereal titan. Subway, another sponsor, opted for censure but not discontinuance. From a far different culture, the Swiss watchmaker Omega deemed it "a non-issue."
"I think there would have been a much stronger and larger fallout" for an American gold medalist 10 or 20 years ago, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. In the Phelps brouhaha, Armentano has sensed a profound shift in national dialogue and in media questions, even if he does still chafe when incorrigible headline writers find double-entendres irresistible. In his view, a swift, toned, dominant athlete who "more than the average American is cognizant of what he puts in his body" simply "blows to smithereens" marijuana's images of slackerdom.
"Kellogg's is playing by the rules of 20 years ago," Armentano said. "Subway is playing by the rules of 1986 and the 'War on Drugs.' Those rules have changed."
This time around, in fact, some High Times website readers have called for a boycott of Kellogg's, while Roffman surmises that could lead to opponents calling for a boycott of the boycott of Kellogg's.
That's because as the debate has roiled on and Roffman has followed it, he has detected four sides, all of which, he said, don "blinders" when regarding the other three.
Group 1 emphasizes that most adults who smoke marijuana do so occasionally and "without really any harm," Roffman said, "and that's a very hard thing for us to publicly acknowledge." Group 2 stresses that "a substantial number of marijuana smokers get into real trouble" and "derail" from functionality.
Group 3 considers marijuana central to life on Earth and tends to live alternatively both culturally and politically, yet manages to function. And Group 4 entails medical users, whose approval in various states -- California in 1996 -- has helped soften the stigma over time.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, for example, trains on Group 2 and maintains in its policy statements, "Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science -- it is not medicine and it is not safe," and, "Legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, will come at the expense of our children and public safety." More personally, a Colorado mother of a 12-year-old swimmer said of Phelps on ABC News, "I am absolutely appalled. Honestly, absolutely appalled, sickened and saddened."
Epitomizing the dichotomy of views, 12 states have decriminalized certain amounts of marijuana possession but, Roffman said, "Would the rest of the states pass that? I have substantial doubts about that." In the athletic realm, there have been 1994 Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, who said on the record that marijuana made him lazy and impeded his progress, and five-time Pro Bowl NFL lineman Mark Stepnoski, who said on the record it helped him sleep and alleviate pain without enduring painkillers or hangovers.
Had Roffman run Kellogg's, he said, he might have opted for a commodity rare in America: nuance. He might have suspended Phelps but said something akin to: We realize he's a role model. We don't believe children and adolescents should smoke marijuana. We also realize Phelps is an adult. We recognize that adults often smoke marijuana without being harmed. We also recognize that because he's a role model, we support his attempt not to repeat this.
That's too shaded for a zippy sound bite, of course, but that's hemp in 2009, when a 47-year-old statesman can admit he smoked during youth and become a decisively elected president, and a 23-year-old athlete can succumb to a South Carolina party photographer and a British tabloid and a ruckus, but with his sponsors reacting variously.
It's a marijuana era clearly new but still perplexing.
"There aren't many places Joe and Mary Public can turn for a balanced, up-to-date, accurate, rational debate about marijuana and all of its glitter and all of its warts," Roffman said. So even though the professor lacks a title just yet for his forthcoming memoir about 40 years following the bouncing dialogue, he does know that the title, for diverse reasons, will include the word "myth."
Michael Phelps` Marijuana Use Puts Focus on Debate Over the Drug
February 8, 2009
By Chuck Culpepper
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sports-marijuana8-2009feb08,0,1583371.story
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so suddenly here's marijuana -- yep, marijuana -- hogging itself another heyday, bolting into the spotlight, all but sashaying back into dialogue and shouting, "Hey, I'm still here."
Shadowed in cycles through recent decades while other legal or illegal or performance-enhancing stimulants took turns getting all the hype, marijuana has just hollered in the case of merely the most-decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps. It has tried to yell from the recent past of the Super Bowl most valuable player, who alighted at Disney World only four months after a forgotten arrest.
It has appeared this week in the suitcase of an arrested college basketball point guard at an airport, and this winter in the possession of a former Dallas receiver, and a Seattle linebacker, and a Florida State receiver, and a retired NBA forward/center, and amid a Japanese sumo wrestling scandal if you can believe such, and in November with a New York Jets defensive end, and last spring in that bellwether moment on talk radio, when Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard readily said he enjoyed an inhale.
Marijuana? Who knew? Yeah, well, OK, pretty much everybody did.
"It has been constant in terms of it being the most popular of the illicit drugs," said Roger Roffman, a professor at the University of Washington, whose study of marijuana in culture dates clear back to the Vietnam War as a social worker for the Army. Even if its relative usage doesn't match its peak from the late 1970s, Roffman said its No. 1 ranking has remained impenetrable.
It's just that news coverage and human discourse run in cycles, as Roffman reminded, and seldom has any cycle known a louder clash than a 14-time gold medalist heralded as classic Americana ramming into a photo at a party with a bong. Such a noise far occludes even the fact that Santonio Holmes, NFL superhero and honored Disney guest, logged a one-game suspension in October after Pittsburgh police pulled him over, got a whiff of his SUV and asked if he'd been smoking, whereupon, according to their report, he said, "No, but yesterday I was."
Because sports permeates everything, those keen on the marijuana issue all along have seen the case of Phelps and his multitudinous corporate sponsors as a gauge of the American mood circa 2009.
Quiet ruled for days. Then Thursday, Kellogg's halted its sponsorship of Phelps, finding his behavior "not consistent with the image of Kellogg's," the 103-year-old Michigan cereal titan. Subway, another sponsor, opted for censure but not discontinuance. From a far different culture, the Swiss watchmaker Omega deemed it "a non-issue."
"I think there would have been a much stronger and larger fallout" for an American gold medalist 10 or 20 years ago, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. In the Phelps brouhaha, Armentano has sensed a profound shift in national dialogue and in media questions, even if he does still chafe when incorrigible headline writers find double-entendres irresistible. In his view, a swift, toned, dominant athlete who "more than the average American is cognizant of what he puts in his body" simply "blows to smithereens" marijuana's images of slackerdom.
"Kellogg's is playing by the rules of 20 years ago," Armentano said. "Subway is playing by the rules of 1986 and the 'War on Drugs.' Those rules have changed."
This time around, in fact, some High Times website readers have called for a boycott of Kellogg's, while Roffman surmises that could lead to opponents calling for a boycott of the boycott of Kellogg's.
That's because as the debate has roiled on and Roffman has followed it, he has detected four sides, all of which, he said, don "blinders" when regarding the other three.
Group 1 emphasizes that most adults who smoke marijuana do so occasionally and "without really any harm," Roffman said, "and that's a very hard thing for us to publicly acknowledge." Group 2 stresses that "a substantial number of marijuana smokers get into real trouble" and "derail" from functionality.
Group 3 considers marijuana central to life on Earth and tends to live alternatively both culturally and politically, yet manages to function. And Group 4 entails medical users, whose approval in various states -- California in 1996 -- has helped soften the stigma over time.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, for example, trains on Group 2 and maintains in its policy statements, "Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science -- it is not medicine and it is not safe," and, "Legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, will come at the expense of our children and public safety." More personally, a Colorado mother of a 12-year-old swimmer said of Phelps on ABC News, "I am absolutely appalled. Honestly, absolutely appalled, sickened and saddened."
Epitomizing the dichotomy of views, 12 states have decriminalized certain amounts of marijuana possession but, Roffman said, "Would the rest of the states pass that? I have substantial doubts about that." In the athletic realm, there have been 1994 Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, who said on the record that marijuana made him lazy and impeded his progress, and five-time Pro Bowl NFL lineman Mark Stepnoski, who said on the record it helped him sleep and alleviate pain without enduring painkillers or hangovers.
Had Roffman run Kellogg's, he said, he might have opted for a commodity rare in America: nuance. He might have suspended Phelps but said something akin to: We realize he's a role model. We don't believe children and adolescents should smoke marijuana. We also realize Phelps is an adult. We recognize that adults often smoke marijuana without being harmed. We also recognize that because he's a role model, we support his attempt not to repeat this.
That's too shaded for a zippy sound bite, of course, but that's hemp in 2009, when a 47-year-old statesman can admit he smoked during youth and become a decisively elected president, and a 23-year-old athlete can succumb to a South Carolina party photographer and a British tabloid and a ruckus, but with his sponsors reacting variously.
It's a marijuana era clearly new but still perplexing.
"There aren't many places Joe and Mary Public can turn for a balanced, up-to-date, accurate, rational debate about marijuana and all of its glitter and all of its warts," Roffman said. So even though the professor lacks a title just yet for his forthcoming memoir about 40 years following the bouncing dialogue, he does know that the title, for diverse reasons, will include the word "myth."
InTherapy82
Bluelighter
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- Sep 30, 2008
- Messages
- 837
he's proof that it's ok to do drugs responsibly...that's why what he did is such a threat.
I'm never buying Kellog's again and neither will anyone I know, my future children or friend's children. I've got time to spare. A good anti Kellog's campaign is needed. They need to be taught a lesson, what they did is not ok in any way and they should pay for it.
I'm never buying Kellog's again and neither will anyone I know, my future children or friend's children. I've got time to spare. A good anti Kellog's campaign is needed. They need to be taught a lesson, what they did is not ok in any way and they should pay for it.
Blacksoulman
Bluelighter
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- Jun 10, 2006
- Messages
- 302
"From a far different culture, the Swiss watchmaker Omega deemed it "a non-issue."
I lol at Omega, but I love that response.
I lol at Omega, but I love that response.
IntergalacticMagic
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- Sep 11, 2008
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- 167
Let the snowball roll!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!
slimvictor
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- 6,483
Bringing marijuana back into the public eye, especially with such an esteemed mascot, seems like a good thing to me.
FDRinTRINIDAD
Bluelighter
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- Sep 23, 2005
- Messages
- 436
I always thought Phelps looked like a stoner, especially in those Rosetta Stone commercials. I knew his squinty eyes weren't from the chlorine in the pool.
zekethemusicman
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People must really be stupid. Do some really believe that phelps started smoking pot AFTER he won all of his awards? Do they not realize that this man won 14 GOLD medals amongst the worlds greatest atheletes, and that his recreational pot use has had absolutely no effect, either good or bad. God stupid people piss me off
AfterGlow
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Sheriff won't file pot charges against Phelps
"He never said, 'I smoked marijuana.' He never confessed that," Lott says
Associated Press
Feb 16, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Now that Michael Phelps won’t face drug charges, he can try to distance himself from a photo that showed the Olympian smoking a marijuana pipe.
A South Carolina sheriff decided Monday after a highly publicized investigation that he simply didn’t have enough physical evidence to charge the 14-time gold medalist.
“We had a photo and we had him saying he was sorry for his inappropriate behavior. That behavior could’ve been going to a party,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
“He never said, ’I smoked marijuana.’ He never confessed that,” the sheriff said.
Phelps, who lost a major endorsement and faces a three-month competition suspension in the fallout from the photo, said he was ready to put the ordeal behind him.
“For me, it’s all about recognizing that I used bad judgment and it’s a mistake I won’t make again,” the swimmer said in a statement. “For young people especially — be careful about the decisions you make. One bad decision can really hurt you and the people you care about. I really appreciate the support my family and fans have shown me.”
The photo showed Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe at a party in November when he visited the University of South Carolina.
Lott said authorities seized the marijuana water pipe, known as a bong, in the photo during the investigation but couldn’t prove Phelps had smoked from it.
Holding a bong is not a crime, he said.
“They’re sold in stores. We’re kind of sending a double message,” Lott said. “You can buy rolling papers at any convenience store in the world, but we’re telling kids not to smoke dope.”
Phelps didn’t get through the scandal unscathed, though. USA Swimming suspended Phelps for three months in the wake of the photo, and Kellogg Co. said it would not renew its endorsement deal with him.
And while the swimmer won’t face any charge, eight people were arrested during the investigation when a small amount of marijuana was found in raids on two homes. The bong was found in a car.
Seven people have been charged with simple possession of marijuana, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail or a $575 fine. Another person was arrested for driving under suspension.
The sheriff, known for his tough stance on drug crimes, said ignoring the photo would have sent a message of tolerance.
Phelps’ “bad decision and the highly published photo placed me and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in a no-win situation. Ignore it and be criticized or address it and be criticized. I chose to do what was right,” said Lott, a Democrat who was first elected in 1996.
Lott rose from patrol officer to captain of the narcotics division in the early 1990s. He was well-known in the county for wearing stylish suits like the drug agents on “Miami Vice” and driving a Porsche seized from a drug dealer.
The sheriff said the investigation involved two narcotics officers that logged 25 hours over about a week. He said the house where the November party took place and another suburban home near Columbia had previously been investigated for drugs.
His investigation was criticized in newspaper editorials, on talk shows and by defense attorneys who questioned whether the sheriff was being overzealous because of Phelps’ celebrity status.
Even if the sheriff had the evidence needed, he acknowledged he could not force Phelps to return to South Carolina to face a misdemeanor possession charge.
One of the attorneys representing the three students arrested said the accused were all in their early 20s. Attorney Dick Harpootlian said the police kicked in the doors with guns drawn during the raids and found less than a cigarette’s worth of marijuana in the house where the party was held. The other raid netted about four or five cigarettes worth, Harpootlian said.
The lawyer expects his clients to either have the charge dismissed or for them to get a conditional discharge, which allows an offender to avoid punishment as long as they comply with certain conditions for six months and stay out of trouble.
“We hope these kids are treated the same as any other kids,” he said.
The photo surfaced in the British tabloid News of the World on Feb. 1. The swimmer, who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, never disputed its authenticity.
Lott said the person who took the photo sold it for $100,000. He would not identify the photographer or say how he knew the amount.
The party occurred nearly three months after the Olympics while Phelps was taking a break from training.
This isn’t the first embarrassing episode for Phelps after an Olympic triumph. In 2004, a few months removed from winning six gold and two bronze medals in Athens, the swimmer was arrested on a drunken driving charge at age 19. He pleaded guilty and apologized for the mistake.
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"He never said, 'I smoked marijuana.' He never confessed that," Lott says
Associated Press
Feb 16, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Now that Michael Phelps won’t face drug charges, he can try to distance himself from a photo that showed the Olympian smoking a marijuana pipe.
A South Carolina sheriff decided Monday after a highly publicized investigation that he simply didn’t have enough physical evidence to charge the 14-time gold medalist.
“We had a photo and we had him saying he was sorry for his inappropriate behavior. That behavior could’ve been going to a party,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
“He never said, ’I smoked marijuana.’ He never confessed that,” the sheriff said.
Phelps, who lost a major endorsement and faces a three-month competition suspension in the fallout from the photo, said he was ready to put the ordeal behind him.
“For me, it’s all about recognizing that I used bad judgment and it’s a mistake I won’t make again,” the swimmer said in a statement. “For young people especially — be careful about the decisions you make. One bad decision can really hurt you and the people you care about. I really appreciate the support my family and fans have shown me.”
The photo showed Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe at a party in November when he visited the University of South Carolina.
Lott said authorities seized the marijuana water pipe, known as a bong, in the photo during the investigation but couldn’t prove Phelps had smoked from it.
Holding a bong is not a crime, he said.
“They’re sold in stores. We’re kind of sending a double message,” Lott said. “You can buy rolling papers at any convenience store in the world, but we’re telling kids not to smoke dope.”
Phelps didn’t get through the scandal unscathed, though. USA Swimming suspended Phelps for three months in the wake of the photo, and Kellogg Co. said it would not renew its endorsement deal with him.
And while the swimmer won’t face any charge, eight people were arrested during the investigation when a small amount of marijuana was found in raids on two homes. The bong was found in a car.
Seven people have been charged with simple possession of marijuana, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail or a $575 fine. Another person was arrested for driving under suspension.
The sheriff, known for his tough stance on drug crimes, said ignoring the photo would have sent a message of tolerance.
Phelps’ “bad decision and the highly published photo placed me and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in a no-win situation. Ignore it and be criticized or address it and be criticized. I chose to do what was right,” said Lott, a Democrat who was first elected in 1996.
Lott rose from patrol officer to captain of the narcotics division in the early 1990s. He was well-known in the county for wearing stylish suits like the drug agents on “Miami Vice” and driving a Porsche seized from a drug dealer.
The sheriff said the investigation involved two narcotics officers that logged 25 hours over about a week. He said the house where the November party took place and another suburban home near Columbia had previously been investigated for drugs.
His investigation was criticized in newspaper editorials, on talk shows and by defense attorneys who questioned whether the sheriff was being overzealous because of Phelps’ celebrity status.
Even if the sheriff had the evidence needed, he acknowledged he could not force Phelps to return to South Carolina to face a misdemeanor possession charge.
One of the attorneys representing the three students arrested said the accused were all in their early 20s. Attorney Dick Harpootlian said the police kicked in the doors with guns drawn during the raids and found less than a cigarette’s worth of marijuana in the house where the party was held. The other raid netted about four or five cigarettes worth, Harpootlian said.
The lawyer expects his clients to either have the charge dismissed or for them to get a conditional discharge, which allows an offender to avoid punishment as long as they comply with certain conditions for six months and stay out of trouble.
“We hope these kids are treated the same as any other kids,” he said.
The photo surfaced in the British tabloid News of the World on Feb. 1. The swimmer, who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, never disputed its authenticity.
Lott said the person who took the photo sold it for $100,000. He would not identify the photographer or say how he knew the amount.
The party occurred nearly three months after the Olympics while Phelps was taking a break from training.
This isn’t the first embarrassing episode for Phelps after an Olympic triumph. In 2004, a few months removed from winning six gold and two bronze medals in Athens, the swimmer was arrested on a drunken driving charge at age 19. He pleaded guilty and apologized for the mistake.
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mrskatanic
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2009
- Messages
- 55
he can probably take HUGE ass tokes with those super human lungs he has, and that super oxygenated blood. im telling you hes a merman.