Essay: The Swimming Star and the Bong

Last August, America’s own Michael Phelps amazed the world with eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, by far the biggest swimming star since Mark Spitz won seven golds in 1972. Sadly, three months later, he was photographed at a South Carolina college party sucking marijuana smoke out of a bong, images which were bought and just published by an eager British tabloid. Phelps admitted the offense and apologized for his "youthful and inappropriate behavior," and promised to never do it again.

"Youthful and inappropriate" is a bit mild for this scandal, but Phelps later amended it to "stupid," which is more accurate. How can someone whose athletic star burns so brightly threaten to throw his good reputation in the garbage for a momentary high? How could he not understand he’s become a superhero of the swimming pool to many children? They don’t put your face on a Wheaties box with a joint in the corner of your mouth.

The U.S. Olympic Committee requested a face-to-face meeting with Phelps to express their concern. Some Olympians understand there’s a different level of behavior expected after winning one gold medal (not to mention eight). American speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno has explained that after his gold medal victory, "My outlook on my behavior changed dramatically...all Olympians, once they are allowed to call themselves a U.S. Olympic athlete, [have] certain guidelines and protocol. If someone does have a camera phone, especially in public and in private, it is important to represent what you would like your mom to see or a little kid to see."

Other Olympians openly advocate marijuana use. Ross Rebagliati, a Canadian snowboarder and "cannabis legend," appeared on CBS to suggest marijuana is not a dangerous substance when compared to alcohol or cigarettes. In fact, he quipped, alcohol "is extra calories to your diet," while marijuana is "fat free."

Marijuana is an illegal drug. Potheads can joke about its "fat free" merits all they want, but nobody who’s been awarded a prominent (and profitable) position as a role model for children should be stupid enough to show up at a stoners’ hangout and be photographed face down in a bong.

The Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University warns that from 1992 to 2006, there was a 492 percent increase in the proportion of teen treatment admissions with a medical diagnosis for marijuana abuse or dependence, compared with a 54 percent decline for all other substances of abuse.

The promoters of drug use are now using Phelps as their role model. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws mocked parents who would object that it sends a poor message to children: "And what message would that be? That you can occasionally smoke marijuana and still be successful in life. Well, sorry if the truth hurts."

Some may simply sample marijuana once, but CASA found that in 2007, approximately 204,000 high-school seniors used marijuana on a daily basis. Not only that, but scientific research suggests possible associations between marijuana use and schizophrenia, not to mention other psychotic disorders and mental health problems.

Pro-marijuana columnists tried to pin the blame for the scandal on parents for being too moralistic. Take Sally Jenkins in The Washington Post: "But maybe it's one more parents should realize is part of the potential cost when their kid announces they want to be a gold medalist like Michael Phelps. Being a champion is frankly not the most healthful career to aspire to; it's an abnormally stressful one."

That’s an incredibly odd statement to come out of the mouth of a sports columnist. Does she want every teenager who aspires to be a champion in football, basketball, baseball, and everything else to forego aspiring to excellence, because it’s "abnormally stressful"? Clearly, it’s stressful at the zenith of the Olympics. But for many teenagers on smaller stages, the discipline of athletics teaches them the virtues of hard work, teamwork, and fair play. It also can help keep them off the meaner streets of drug addiction.

The worst thing Michael Phelps did was encourage the notion that everybody under a certain square age does drugs, and does them routinely. See how actor Ashton Kutcher came to his defense: "I wish the media would kill this Phelps story. God forbid he hit a bong. Go ask your 20-year-old kid what they did last weekend." What a nasty smear that is on the many 20-year-old men and women who’ve made better use of their weekends.