FOR OLYMPIC STAR, POT IS GOLD

The sporting world remains in a state of mourning after the horrific
and shocking news that Olympic hero Michael Phelps smokes marijuana.
ecome of this world? How are we as a society supposed to continue to
progress with such evil existing right in front of our eyes?

What's next, Tiger Woods gets a seatbelt ticket? No wait; don't tell
me, Sidney Crosby caught throwing a pop can in the garbage? I don't
know if I could stand that kind of pain.

What I'm trying to say is, who cares?

I love how society takes professional athletes who smoke weed and
throws them in the same category as the ones who rape, murder, bathe
in cocaine, pump themselves full of horse steroids, gamble on their
own teams, beat and cheat on their wives, fire bullets into their
thighs, host canine death matches and lie in court.

Are we are supposed to chastise this kid, who by the way is the
greatest Olympian of all time, because he smoked a plant? Seriously?

His reputation is forever tarnished and you'll likely never see him
discussed on TV again without the mention of weed. He is now, and
will always be, Michael Phelps the pothead.

I, for one, think we're going about this all wrong. Maybe he should
be praised. I mean it's not like lungs full of pot smoke made the kid
more aerodynamic in the pool. How he managed eight gold medals
without so much as a bag of chips between laps is pretty astonishing actually.

I fully understand that marijuana is against the law and people
should respect the laws of the land but if you can be the fastest
swimmer alive and still smoke the reefer, that's impressive. My point
is some laws mean a little more than others, or at least they should.

Most of them have logic. Don't steal, kill people, or file false
taxes. These are laws that make sense and no one is going to argue
their worth. But, with all due respect to our wise law-making
governments, the illegalization of marijuana is lacking a little logic.

Actually, it's downright laughable.

As long as we live in a society that allows cigarettes, alcohol and
NASCAR, it will remain impossible to convince me as to why marijuana
is prohibited. The government will always preach that laws are made
for the protection of the people, but if that were actually true,
nicotine, booze and wasting gas in a speeding circle would be highly illegal.

Unfortunately, the governments make far too much money in the sale of
cancer sticks, liver-failing juice and non-renewable resources to
really worry about your health.

But don't worry; they'll continue to protect you from the horrible
evils of cannabis.

Granted, marijuana has not been responsible for a single death in
roughly 10,000 years of existence, and cigarettes and alcohol kill
thousands daily, but if your government says it's bad for you, then
they must be right.

If you sat on the couch and drank a shot of vodka every five minutes,
you would be dead by the six o' clock news. If you sat on the couch
and smoked weed every five minutes, the worst problem you'd face is
eating stale crackers because you're too lazy to go to the store.

So instead of exiling one of the greatest athletes in history because
he likes to use some of his spare time to get stoned, let's cut the
kid some slack. He's still a fantastic athlete and he's still a
better role model than most.

Now, if we find out he's getting in the pool without waiting an hour
after smoking, we'll have a real problem.