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News (Media Awareness Project) - US LA: Column: All Laws Are Not Good; Bad Ones Should Be
Title:US LA: Column: All Laws Are Not Good; Bad Ones Should Be
Published On:2009-02-09
Source:Advertiser, The (Lafayette, LA)
Fetched On:2009-02-09 20:16:41
ALL LAWS ARE NOT GOOD; BAD ONES SHOULD BE CHANGED SOON

It's hell being a celebrity, especially if you're young and find
yourself at a party, where marijuana and cameras should never mix.

And it's not exactly heaven being sheriff of a county with escalating
drug crimes and pressure to treat all offenders equally.

Thus it is that Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps and Sheriff Leon Lott
of South Carolina's Richland County are being forced to treat
seriously a crime that shouldn't be one.

As everyone knows by now, Phelps was photographed smoking from an
Olympic-sized bong during a University of South Carolina party last
November. As all fallen heroes must - by writ of the Pitchforks &
Contrition Act - Phelps has apologized for behavior that was
"regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," and has promised never
to be a lesser role model again.

Check.

Lott, meanwhile, is threatening action against Phelps because ... he
has to. Widely respected and admired as a "good guy" who came up
through the ranks, Lott is in a jam. Not one to sweat the small
stuff, he nevertheless has said that he'll charge Phelps with a crime
if he determines that the 14-time gold-medal winner did, in fact,
smoke pot in his county.

The sheriff's job will be made both easier and tougher by evidence
that includes a photograph of Phelps with his face buried in a
smoke-filled tube and what Lott has called a "partial confession."
Phelps has said that the photo is legit. The only missing link,
apparently, is the exact location of the party.

What's tough is that Lott probably doesn't want to press charges
because it's a waste of time and resources. He's got much bigger fish
to fry, but several recent drug-related crimes - including at least
two high-profile murders - have captured community attention.

And the law is the law. Therein lies the problem.

Our marijuana laws have been ludicrous for as long as we've been
alive. Almost half of us (42 percent) have tried marijuana at least
once, according to a report published last year in PLoS Medicine, a
journal of the Public Library of Science.

The U.S., in fact, boasts the highest percentage of pot smokers among
17 nations surveyed, including The Netherlands, where cannabis clouds
waft from coffeehouse windows. Among them are no small number of
high-ranking South Carolina leaders (we knew us when), who surely
cringe every time a young person gets fingered for a "crime" they
themselves have committed.

Understandably, parents worry that their kids will emulate their
idol, but the problem isn't Phelps, who is, in fact, an adult. The
problem is our laws - and our lies.

Obviously, children shouldn't smoke anything, legal or otherwise. Nor
should they drink alcoholic beverages, even though their parents
might. There are good reasons for substance restrictions for children
that need not apply to adults.

That's the real drug message that should inform our children and our
laws, rather than the nonsense that currently passes for drug information.

Once a kid realizes that pot doesn't make him insane - or likely to
become a burrito taster, as the ad further asserts - he might figure
other drug information is equally false. That's how marijuana becomes
a gateway drug.

Phelps may be an involuntary hero to this charge, but his name and
face bring necessary attention to a farce in which nearly half the
nation are actors. It's time to recognize that all drugs are not
equal - and change the laws accordingly.
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