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News & ArtsTuesday, February 3, 2009
Drugs Not Sorry
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 8:41 AM
The Agitator drafts a letter that Michael Phelps really ought to sign...
Dear America,I take it back. I don’t apologize.
Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.
Read the rest here.
1
There not accusing him of winning all those medals under the influence of an illegal substance, are they?
2
I agree leave the poor guy alone! He simple likes to smoke a little and have a good time, I don't know any college student that doesn't try illegal things here or there. I mean he's still pretty bad ass!
3
he's apologizing for the money. nothing is more american.
if every adult would just STFU about it, the precious children his trangression would theoretically disappoint wouldn't ever fucking know about it. for instance, the photo is on the cover of the PI. no kid will ever see that.
if every adult would just STFU about it, the precious children his trangression would theoretically disappoint wouldn't ever fucking know about it. for instance, the photo is on the cover of the PI. no kid will ever see that.
4
He may be strong physically, but he is a weak man in many other respects.
Firstly, he owes no one an apology, and it is shameful that he allowed himself to be manipulated into giving one (no doubt by those who stand to gain from his continued whoring out).
But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, he was in the perfect position, at the perfect moment, to drive another big nail in the coffin of the unjust drug policies. In an era where our President has even admitted to smoking pot, his voice could have made a real difference.
Like Rosa Parks, he was asked to sit at the back of the bus. And he chose to apologize, walk back, and sit down.
5
"...p.s. I'm a twenty-four year old. No shit, I go to parties and I smoke up occasionally. In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet and, uh, grass is green."
6
so far his endorsers are standing by him, so there isn't going to be any big fallout or loss for him.
8
AND now the hick sheriff in the county is looking to prosecute. As if there is no other crime, like, say, date rape or robbery or vandalism, etc., to prosecute in a college town.
10
I don't get the impression that Micheal Phelps is literate, so he's probably never going to hear about that letter unless someone reads it to him, slowly.
11
Oops, sorry, that's Radley's own blog, so it's a repost. So many bloggers with so many blogs! Goodness!
13
Speaking as a parent of 11 and 8-year olds, I don't give a FUCK what Michael Phelps does on his own time. My kids aren't reading People magazine or watching Fox news.
People who want athletes to be role models are pathetic.
People who want athletes to be role models are pathetic.
14
@14, as a parent of a 13 and an 11 year old, I would also add that no kid gives a shit about the Olympics, especially swimmers (unless said kid is actually in the Olympics).
On the other hand, some family friends of ours just pulled their kid out of one junior high and switched to another when they discovered that their kids' friends were smoking pot sometimes.
On the other hand, some family friends of ours just pulled their kid out of one junior high and switched to another when they discovered that their kids' friends were smoking pot sometimes.
15
Hey Scooter @4: Apparently, being the greatest swimmer in the history of the world isn't enough for you. He needs to be the Rosa Parks of pot as well, else he is "a weak man." Ridiculous.
There's a reason why we celebrate Rosa Parks: What she did was really hard. It's difficult to stand up to power when you have something to lose (and Rosa did have something to lose, like her life if the wrong people are on that bus).
Pretty easy to sit there in your anonymous safe little world and call people cowards. I'm sure you would have the integrity to jeopardize millions of dollars worth of endorsements, the result of a lifetime spent in unimaginable toil, to stand by your pro-pot principles.
Very impressive! You are a true revolutionary.
There's a reason why we celebrate Rosa Parks: What she did was really hard. It's difficult to stand up to power when you have something to lose (and Rosa did have something to lose, like her life if the wrong people are on that bus).
Pretty easy to sit there in your anonymous safe little world and call people cowards. I'm sure you would have the integrity to jeopardize millions of dollars worth of endorsements, the result of a lifetime spent in unimaginable toil, to stand by your pro-pot principles.
Very impressive! You are a true revolutionary.
16
@14, Um... I totally wanted to be Janet Evans when I was 9, and it took me until I was 17 to break a 1:00/100M. Clearly I never had the Olympic dream.
And although I don't have kids in jr. high, I'd probably yank them out if they were hanging out with 12-year-old stoners too... especially if they were hanging out with the stoners and their super-classy parents.
Smoking weed when you're Michael Phelps is one thing; smoking weed before you get all your pubic hair is another.
And although I don't have kids in jr. high, I'd probably yank them out if they were hanging out with 12-year-old stoners too... especially if they were hanging out with the stoners and their super-classy parents.
Smoking weed when you're Michael Phelps is one thing; smoking weed before you get all your pubic hair is another.
17
Are people actually deluded enough to think that marijuana is less harmful than "most" prescription drugs "most" people are taking? Lay off the bong, bro.
18
@16, i was replying in my head to 4 when i read your comment and was relieved i didn't have to, you took care of that better than i could.
rosa parks of pot. i love it.
rosa parks of pot. i love it.
19
@16: my next door neighbors smoked weed in junior high. i knew but i didn't join them until i was 16. we all have masters degrees now.
pulling your kid out of a school to send him to another where the same thing happens is just being a hysteric.
pulling your kid out of a school to send him to another where the same thing happens is just being a hysteric.
20
@19, It's not hysteria to want the best for your own kid. While it's great that you have a master's degree, I look back at my list of friends and acquaintances who were smoking weed at 12, all I see is the guy who still delivers pizza, the guy who got shot after graduation, and the girl who had a heart attack before 30 (clearly, weed was not her only vice), and a couple who are small-time dealers/unemployed/still the same thugs they were in 1992. There is one who smoked out with his dad who is a stay-at-home dad and is a good person, but couldn't hold down a job unless it was at his mom's shop. The rest of my stoner friends who turned out "normal" didn't start smoking until high school/college.
Once a kid is branded as a pot-smoking trouble-maker, it's awfully hard to shake that label without uprooting them from everything they know. I'm sure that there are kids who smoke weed who turn out fine. I just think there are more who don't--keep in mind that we're talking about 12 and 13 here--and I don't want my kids to have to face that additional risk.
Once a kid is branded as a pot-smoking trouble-maker, it's awfully hard to shake that label without uprooting them from everything they know. I'm sure that there are kids who smoke weed who turn out fine. I just think there are more who don't--keep in mind that we're talking about 12 and 13 here--and I don't want my kids to have to face that additional risk.
21
@19,
The only way we're going to have pot legalization ever is if we can convince parents that only adults over 18 or 21 will have access to it. Your attitude doesn't help.
The only way we're going to have pot legalization ever is if we can convince parents that only adults over 18 or 21 will have access to it. Your attitude doesn't help.
22
I agree with the Agitator. The best thing he could do is to admit he smokes weed on occassion and that it shouldn't be illegal. If he had gotten drunk there would be no problem but smoking some weed is a problem? Makes no sense.
24
@16 I had the same thought about junior high - I'm not sure if I'd pull my (hypothetical) kid out of school if his friends were smoking pot, but I would certainly consider it a serious problem. High school, no, but junior high? 12 years old? No way a kid is mature enough to handle weed at that age. I'm all for responsible use of weed, but a 12 year old smoking does not qualify.
25
I hate to defend Michael Phelps as he's kind of an asshole, but seriously-- not only was he a college student, but he was a college student in Ann Arbor. Given my personal experience, I'd be far more worried if he'd been here all that time and not smoked pot.
26
@22....gotten drunk? obviously you don't remember that a few months after Athens in 2004 this dude got pulled over for a DUI at 19, which is underage in the state of Maryland. At the time he pleaded it was an "isolated incident".
Don't get me wrong, he shouldn't been getting his chops busted over a little pot either, but shown a bit better judgment than to allow his pic to be taken.
Word around the Campus though was he was partying like a MadMan, and likely pissed off the wrong person who took some snaps and get some revenge for his asshole antics.
Don't get me wrong, he shouldn't been getting his chops busted over a little pot either, but shown a bit better judgment than to allow his pic to be taken.
Word around the Campus though was he was partying like a MadMan, and likely pissed off the wrong person who took some snaps and get some revenge for his asshole antics.
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