Hugs Not Drugs

Olympic athletes failing drug tests is nothing new. Since the German engineered super athletes of the 1930s, there have been gold medal hopefuls looking for unfair advantages. Some resort to steroids. Some get caught.

It's an altogether new thing for a 14 time gold medal winner to be photographed smoking marijuana from a bong.

Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer to ever compete in the Olympics, had his picture taken while at a party in South Carolina engaging in what some might classify as 'suspect behavior'. I don't want to come off as supporting pot smoking by Olympic athletes but let's put some things into perspective.

First of all, the man has the lung capacity of a bottle nosed dolphin. He would have to smoke more weed than Tommy Chong to even feel anything.

Second, the man is on vacation. He worked his ass off for years and was rewarded for it with the most record breaking and remarkable three weeks anyone has ever had in China. If he wants to celebrate by taking a bong rip, I say God Speed John Glenn.

Third, with the amount of calories he was burning in the pool, he needed to intake around 12,000 calories per day. There's really only one way to do that. It's called the munchies.

Finally, if he can smoke pot, a drug that among other things, makes you lethargic and winded easily, and still win 8 gold medals, more power to him. All he was really doing was leveling the playing field. Without the pot, his races wouldn't even have been close.

They say he is no longer a role model for aspiring young athletes to look up to. That's the kids problem, not his. He's paid to swim fast and look good doing it. He's not a 65 year old CEO of a publicly traded company, he's a 23 year old freak of nature kid who likes to party. There's more important things in the world to worry about than this kid puffing on a joint.