WHY "BONG-GATE" LOST

Just weeks ago, a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps smoking marijuana
from a bong leaked into the media and threw him into a firestorm of
loathing. The incident made Phelps the latest celebrity to face the
consequences of disappointing people he'd never met. His antics have
cost him financially, as sponsors such as Kellogg's have canceled his
contracts or high-paying speaking engagements, as well as
competitively, as he has been suspended by the United States Swimming
Federation for three months. The pressure has become so severe that
the 23-year-old is considering retiring from his sport.

Mark Spitz, a former Olympic swimmer who won seven gold medals said of
Phelps, "His accomplishment is epic. It goes to show you that not only
is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian
of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time."

Phelps' incredible focus and work ethic have yielded phenomenal
results. Last year, the young man won eight gold Olympic medals in one
week. The man who previously held the status of being the world's
greatest swimmer, Australian Ian Thorpe, considered the goal of eight
gold medals to be impossible. Phelps worked out harder and more often
than any swimmer in the sport's history. He swam 20 races in just
seven days to accomplish this task, setting seven world records in the
process. He even set one of those world records while swimming with a
pair of broken goggles.

Phelps had come to define athletic dominance, stamina and the Olympic
spirit. He had single-handedly saved the sport of swimming, and served
as the finest athletic export America has ever seen. So why are so
many people, even many who are indebted to him, so quick to tear him
down? How could a nation that so thoroughly enjoyed his performance at
the Olympics only months ago, be fostering an environment that is
making Phelps question whether he should swim again? Because he
occupies that slot of society that is more soul-reducing than any
other, that of the role model.

Being a role model is a trying task. Most often these people are given
money, fame and all the markers of the supposed Good Life. However,
the trade off for such glory is that they are asked to live in
conformity within the conventions of society. Any time someone such as
Phelps strays from the beaten path, trouble is bound to follow. What
is ironic is that it is precisely the act of deviating from the norm
that allows these people to defy the odds in their given fields.
Moreover, role models in a healthy society should not be manufactured
to serve as a reflection of the society, they should be looked at to
expand conventions, to question boundaries and barriers previously
allowed the false authority of rigidity. Too often, exemplary figures
are revered for their accomplishments, respected for their talents but
they are not reacted to.

When the picture of Phelps smoking weed leaked, I wished he would have
not only have admitted his use of the drug, but stood by it. However,
the consequences are unfortunately too severe for him to make such a
stand. Indeed, when it comes to his sponsorships, he is beholden to
the people who pay his salary. The corporations who sponsor him are of
course the least likely entities to make a moral shift such as the one
Phelps offers. They discard anything or anyone who represents a
challenge to mainstream morality and who present a threat to the
sanctity of their static image. What's worse, those corporations who
have kept Phelps on have done so after expressing great regret at the
incident and demonstrating that Phelps himself understands that he
showed bad judgment. Only once he superficially fell back into line
could his tattered image begin to be repaired.

Michael Phelps smokes marijuana, of that there is no doubt. But
instead of admonishing him for the act, we should be considering what
it is we are frowning upon. He has absolutely obliterated the core
arguments surrounding the supposed effects and dangers of marijuana
use. Let it be said for now and ever more that people can smoke
marijuana and still be productive members of society. If Phelps is any
indication, smoking weed doesn't automatically destroy your
motivation, or your physical well-being, a point that Phelps'
superhuman accomplishments hammer home. Instead of repudiating him,
nauseating moralists everywhere should be tipping their caps to Phelps
while admitting that they have been definitively proven wrong.

The anti-marijuana people have been wrong since the beginning.
Examples have repeatedly demonstrated that its criminality is a joke
and its place on the list of immorality is a facade. But Phelps is an
example beyond all the others. His astounding drive, his athletic
supremacy and his personal decision to smoke marijuana should be a
death blow to any of the moronic refutations that have muddied the
moral waters of marijuana use for decades. That would be the proper
use of Michael Phelps as a role model in our society. Instead, many
people demand that those who set examples, set a certain example.
Society places obscene pressure on role models to fall in line,
instead of using these people to consider itself. A society without
the ability to reflect, judge and change is a dead society. It cannot
move forward, it can only regurgitate. In truth, Phelps' use of
marijuana should make the whole process that much easier. It literally
cannot be any more plain to see the flaws in arguments against
recreational marijuana use. It should really be boringly simple.

Society should look at these facts and move the fuck on. Mankind's
greatest athlete smokes weed.