Phelps Shouldn't Have Had to Apologize
Remember the time Michael Phelps was
caught smoking marijuana out of a bong in the winter of 2009? Well I’m sure
just about everyone does, considering the incident made national headlines;
however, if you did not know; the 22
time Olympian medal winner (18 of those medals being gold) was caught smoking out
of a bong while at a University of South Carolina party in February of 2009.
The act cost him a 3 month suspension from USA swimming, his endorsement from
Kellog’s cereal, and an estimated $100 million in estimated sponsorship spoils. Shortly after being caught, Phelps
apologized. Despite this, I feel that he
is not truly sorry for his actions and that he should not apologize for the
actions of his private life, especially actions in which he did not expect to
go public. Had he not been exposed, it
would’ve just been another party that took place in his life, thus equating
that Phelps saw no harm in deciding to smoke.
His apology is the following: “I
engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23
years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful
and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For
this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”
Promising the public that “it will
not happen again” is possibly saying that either he will completely stop
smoking weed (which I highly doubt since he’s 27 and retired), or that he will
not let himself become exposed for a second time. Phelps could possibly be smoking out of a
bong at this very moment in time in the privacy of his home and keeping true to
his promise of not letting his fans and “the public” (the media) know of his
habits.
It strikes me as very pitiful that
an athlete of Phelps’ caliber has to apologize for his private actions; not so
much on Phelps’ behalf, but on the behalf of the public’s outcry for Phelps
violating federal law. It’s not like
Phelps was arrested for possession of multiple pounds worth of marijuana; I see
that being more of a situation where Phelps would have to issue an apology in
order to maintain his All-American, iconic status as a role model and swimming
icon, but Phelps apologizing for smoking a plant that is arguably the most
medicinal of all “recreational drugs?”
Requiring Phelps to apologize on such an instance is about the same as
telling Bill Clinton to apologize for lying to the nation about possessing
marijuana and claiming “not to have inhaled” it.
What’s even more upsetting is that
Phelps will be remembered for this one untimely moment in his career in
opposition to being revered for all of his accomplishments. If there’s anyone that has to apologize, it’s
those who've judged Phelps based on knowing this fact alone. Everyday people who do not stay up to date
with sports will now know of Phelps’ history as “an athlete that got caught
smoking weed” instead of considering his reputable achievements.
According to writer Chris Chase of Yahoo
Sports, “Eighty-one percent of
Phelps' medals are gold. None of the next 20 Olympians with the highest medal
counts have as good a percentage as that, and only Carl Lewis (nine golds in 10
medals) has a better ratio in the top 40.” Let’s
be honest, a person with records like that shouldn’t be required to apologize
by any means for taking a bong hit when statistics from USA Today report that
20% of (2012) college students admittedly smoke marijuana.
So if 1/5th of the nations
college students (commonly referred to as “the leaders of tomorrow”) smoke weed
and clearly violate their school’s recreational drug use/tolerance rule, that’s
just a statistic. Yet, if there’s a picture of Michael Phelps smoking up, it’s
suddenly breaking news that he is caught, and therefore, as a sports icon, has
to apologize for his “youthful and inappropriate ways”. This is unnecessary. Is there nothing else going on in the world
of athletes today that the media has to focus on someone who would be one of
the every five college students that smokes pot regularly had he not been a
record breaking, Olympic Superstar?
Phelps should not have apologized for
his actions because America (as a whole) has been and is still fighting for marijuana
legalization. As of November 8th, 2012, the states of Colorado
and Washington have legalized the adult use and possession of marijuana.
Despite its remaining illegal in many states, marijuana advocates writing for
High Times list a valid reason for the plant’s legalization:
"Marijuana is not a lethal drug and
is safer than alcohol. It is an established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans;
marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible,
and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. It is unfair and
unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of
alcohol or tobacco."
If Phelps
had to apologize for smoking a “drug” that is now legal and scientifically
proven to be safer than alcohol and tobacco, then he had nothing to be
apologetic for; because at the end of the day, he is still just one of
many fellow Americans who happened to smoke cannabis at a college party in
2009.
Stay blue, stay cool.
RB
