Kellogg to drop Phelps over pot smoking photo
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Cereal and snack maker Kellogg Co. said it won't renew its sponsorhip contract with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps because of a photo that showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company said Thursday that Phelps's behavior â?? caught on camera and published Sunday in a British tabloid â?? is "not consistent with the image of Kellogg."

The company put Phelps on boxes of its Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes.

Phelps has kept the backing of many sponsors since the photo surfaced from a November house party at the University of South Carolina.

Phelps's agent was not immediately available to comment.

Kellogg says its contract with Phelps expires at the end of the month.

Top travel destinations for Michael Phelps and other marijuana smokers
Posted by The Marijuana News Staff on February 5th, 2009

Divide and Maintain Dysfunction.

Michael Phelps - the good stuff
DWR: Pete Guither 2.4.9

Yes, there have been a lot of ridiculous columns by entertainment and sports journalists about how Michale Phelps "shames us all" for his horrible action in taking a bong hit, but it's been entertaining to me to read the comments to most of these articles and see the journalists being torn a new one by the public.

Some of them have been quite astonished that their readers weren't supporting them in their ritual condemnation of Phelps. Hilarious.

Here's a couple of delightful instances where the writers got it right.

Andrew Stuttaford at National Review Online's the corner

Look, I don't blame Michael Phelps for apologizing. He has a living to earn, so he did what he had to do.

In the meantime, I merely note that this broken wreck of a man's failure to win any more than a pathetic fourteen Olympic gold medals (so far) is a terrifying warning of the horrific damage that cannabis can do to someone's health--and a powerful reminder of just how sensible the drug laws really are.



And then, a clear must-read is Kathleen Parker in today's Washington Post: Phelps Takes a Hit

She's on fire:

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. [...]

Other better-known former tokers include our current president and a couple of previous ones, as well as a Supreme Court justice, to name just a few. A complete list would require the slaughter of several mature forests. [...]

One recent ad produced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says: "Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren't many jobs out there for potheads." Whoa, dude, except maybe, like, president of the United States.

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.

Thanks, Michael, for jump-starting a national conversation by taking a hit on a bong.

If it were only that easy for the rest of us...

Update: Joe Klein at Time Magazine jumps in: Legalize it, already

Kathleen Parker has the precisely correct reaction to the Michael Phelps flap. Marijuana should be legalized and taxed. It's costing the society way too much in terms of law enforcement and hypocrisy.



Monday, February 2, 2009
Updates: Cheye Calvo and Michael Phelps

Olympic Champion Michael Phelps Caught With Marijuana Pipe
Phelps, who vaulted to international stardom during the 2008 Summer Olympics by winning a record eight gold medals in swimming, has been caught in a very compromising position, according to a report by the British paper News of the World. full story

Marijuana Wars In The Workplace
US OR: Edu: Fox, Lauren Oregon Daily Emerald 03 Feb 2009

Richland Sheriff Could Charge Phelps
US SC: Beam, Adam The State 03 Feb 2009

The United States Is Mired In Adolescent Behaviour
CN BC: Editorial: Vancouver Sun 04 Feb 2009

Phelps, Pot And Consequences
Editorial: Dallas Morning News 03 Feb 2009

So, Phelps Is Human
CN ON: Editorial: Ottawa Citizen 04 Feb 2009

Michael Phelps' Public Stoning
US CO: Harsanyi, David Denver Post 03 Feb 2009

DEA Chief: Winners Occasionally Use Drugs
September 9, 1997 | Issue 32â?˘06 WASHINGTON, DC
In a surprise announcement with wide-ranging implications for U.S. narcotics policy, Drug Enforcement Administration director Thomas Constantine acknowledged Monday that some winners "may occasionally" use drugs.

Phelps unites pot smokers By David Edwards
CNNâ??s Jeanne Moos reported that the photo of Michael Phelps smoking a bong has united pot smokers on the internet.
This video is from CNNâ??s American Morning, broadcast Feb. 4, 2009.

Former Olympian defends Phelps for bong use

Smoking pot with Michael Phelps?



72% want Obama to end DEA raids
DWR: Pete Guither 2.4.9

According to a California NORML press release:

While the DEA continues to stage medical marijuana raids in California, nearly three-quarters of voters think President Obama should honor his campaign pledge to end the raids, according to a poll of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby International.

In a question sponsored by NORML, voters were asked: During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he would stop federal raids against medical marijuana providers in the 13 states where medical marijuana has become legal. Should President Obama keep his word to end such raids?

Response:

* Yes - 72%
* No - 21%
* Not sure - 7%.

Yes votes outnumbered No by over 2 to 1 in all geographic, political, and demographic groups. The poll, conducted Jan 29-31, had a margin error of +/-3.1%.

The question is, of course, designed to encourage a "Yes" vote (that's not unusual in commissioned polls), but it's still an impressive number and very useful to make a good point.

DdC222 Reviewed by DdC222 on . Michael Phelps, Hypocrisy, & American Drug Policy Big Bong Theory By Sally Jenkins CN Source: Washington Post February 03, 2009 Washington, DC So Michael Phelps dove headfirst into the bong water. Is anyone really surprised, after all those laps? There has always been something submerged and escapist about the world's greatest swimmer. When presented with a chamber containing a hazy translucent liquid, he did what's become second nature to him. He buried his face in it. I'm just sorry I wasn't at that University of South Carolina house party Rating: 5