Does Michael Phelps deserve a break?

[Uncle Bubba]

losers are going to be losers whether they smoke pot or not, and the same holds true for the "winners".

Hear hear!

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

big difference between trying it once and wake and bake

[Werewolf]

in my high school we had 4 national merit scholars. all of us smoked dope three of us a lot of dope, what i would refer to as problematic usage. most folks out grow it or use moderately or safely. a few don't  that would be me. i hada quit using altogether. hada quit booze too  even more  so.  i would suspect folks that smoked pot might not have been forthcoming with you maned  forgive my making that character assesment

I call BS on this one. Seastory or something you heard.

You are saying you were a National Merit Scholar? NMS' don't write in the generally incoherent, muddled and discontinuous style you use - even burned out stoner National Merit Scholars.

[MicroBalrog]

big difference between trying it once and wake and bake

So you agree not every drug user abuses drugs. Good to know.

[Beagle]

I honestly think that, if you research it, the "winners" you're talking about are something of an anomoly. Not to say that pot smoking makes someone a loser, but rather that pot smoking (and other drug abuse) is an activity that attracts people who would tend to qualify as "losers" in our society...

You could be right. I don't think so, but I honestly don't see how it could be measured. It really just comes down to personal anecdotes and preconceptions, on both sides of the debate. My life is structured so that "losers" don't really have any part of it, so my perception is quite skewed. The only dopers I know are A) former dopers, and B) "winners". So the only thing I really know for a fact is that dope doesn't automatically equate to "loser", which brings us right back to the central point: why are folks coming down on Phelps -- obviously not a "loser" -- and even suggesting that the proper result is jail time?

Again, seriously: what's the difference between taking a bong hit and having a beer? Why is one perfectly acceptable and the other outrageous, immoral, and worthy of prison?

[Strings]

You used faulty logic with my statement there, Micro.

 My saying that "losers" will be drawn to those activities does NOT correlate that everyone who engages in those activities is a "loser"...

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

 =DYou are saying you were a National Merit Scholar? NMS' don't write in the generally incoherent, muddled and discontinuous style you use - even burned out stoner National Merit Scholars. :rolleyes:


dont sugar coat it!
you are right i stand corrected i called one of the other guys  none of us went through the process to actually get the scholarshiips.  we were all just semifinalists based on sat score junior year. three of the 4 of us were members of the timothy leary club. only one of us even went to college. one guy bought a dump truck one guy ran a bar/restaurant the other guy died of cancer.  the one guy who went got a full ride to mit and is egg head to the extreme. all it takes to be a semifinalist is sat score and if it'll make you feel better they didn't announce my name with the others since the administration  was sure there was a mistake. i was failing 6 for 6. i managed to pull it out barely and graduated with the lowest gpa anyone could graduate with. a .75 d minus. while taking ap and honors classes. even more amusing was honors english classes in college.   i guess if i wanted to i could do all that stuff still but i found/find for me its sometimes a bit pretentious. plus i might have to type with both hands