Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2009
Source: Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
Copyright: 2009 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Contact: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/about/feedback/
Website: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/339
Author: Jill Porter, Philadelphia Daily News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/people/Michael+Phelps

PHELPS A TOKE-ING OF POT LEGALIZERS' AFFECTION

Bo(i)ng! The photo that might change not just our image of Michael 
Phelps, but drug laws, too.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Michael Phelps smoking pot through a bong might 
indeed change attitudes.

Not toward Phelps - who'll survive this controversy swimmingly - but 
toward marijuana.

Instead of forcing him from his pedestal, Phelps' recreational use of 
marijuana will no doubt push the pendulum further along the road to 
liberalization of pot laws.

As well it should.

The very fact that the Olympian athlete hasn't been deep-sixed by 
some of his sponsors shows how tolerant our society has become of the 
recreational use of weed.

If this were 10 years ago, "I'm sure most of his commercial 
supporters would drop him like his hair was on fire," said an 
official of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

While some major sponsors remained silent as of yesterday afternoon - 
including Kellogg's, which put Phelps on Corn Flakes boxes - so far, 
Speedo, luxury watchmaker Omega, Hilton Hotels Corp. and the makers 
of the sports drink Pure Sport have issued statements of support.

Corporations are anything but altruistic. If they thought that the 
Phelps incident would cost them customers and cash, they'd abandon 
the Olympic swimmer in a heartbeat.

They didn't.

"The baby boomers who run corporations do not see cannabis use as 
demonstration of turpitude," said Allen St. Pierre, NORML executive director.

(By way of disclosure, I haven't smoked marijuana in 30 years - not 
that I disapprove. It's just that wine is my drug of choice.)

The fact is that 75 percent of the public favors decriminalization 
and the medical use of marijuana, St. Pierre said.

And 46 of 50 states have reduced possession from a felony to a 
misdemeanor, including Pennsylvania.

It's a long way from the demonization of "reefer" to the popular 
Showtime series "Weeds," about a suburban mom who sells pot.

It's a long way from Bill Clinton supposedly declining to inhale to 
Barack Obama openly asserting that he had: "That was the point," he said.

And marijuana use by likable, wholesome athletes such as Michael 
Phelps can only advance the evolution of attitudes.

It helps that Phelps reacted perfectly when the photo of him inhaling 
through a bong at a private party got international exposure last week.

He gave the mandatory mea culpa while pointing out that he's still 
young and susceptible to the missteps of youth.

Frankly, if my sports heroes have to fall from grace, I'd rather they 
do it with a bong than with a bullet or a blow to a spouse's face.

If Phelps screwed up, good for him. All of us ought to give ourselves 
the opportunity to screw up. And if we don't do it while we're young, 
we might do it when we're older and have a lot more to lose.

But increasingly our society doesn't view what Phelps did as screwing 
up - unless you have hero worship and millions of dollars in 
endorsements to lose.

The evolving opinions about marijuana, based on evidence of its 
relative harmlessness, are reflected in generational attitudes, 
NORML's St. Pierre said, using his own family as the example.

His 88-year-old grandmother thinks pot is a corrupting, evil 
substance; his 63-year-old mother favors decriminalization and 
medical access but not legalization; he's 43 and "totally keen on 
taxation and control."

"Sad as it's going to be to watch my grandmom's generation 
attritiate, with her goes the 'reefer madness' mentality," St. Pierre said.

And with the world's economy in the tank, the $7.7 billion spent on 
prohibition enforcement - according to a Harvard economist - surely 
could be put to better use.

As for Phelps, I doubt that his reputation will be seriously 
tarnished. If anything, it has a warm polish of realism, and the 
incident just might help propel changes in our drug policies.

Not to mention it might help explain Phelps' extraordinary appetite.

"People have wondered how he eats 21,000 calories a day," St. Pierre 
joked in a reference to the notorious weed-induced "munchies."

"Now we know."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom