arrests in Phelps case

[Parts]

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Authorities in the South Carolina county where Michael Phelps was photographed smoking from a marijuana pipe have been arresting people as they seek to make a case against the superstar swimmer, lawyers for two arrested people said Thursday.

Attorneys Joseph McCulloch and Dick Harpootlian told The Associated Press they each represent a client charged with possession of marijuana who were questioned about the party Phelps attended near the University of South Carolina campus in November

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_re_us/swm_phelps_marijuana

They want arrest him WTF.  He smoked a bong hit in all of SC they have nothing better to do?  This is why people dislike the police and DA's office petty shit like this. 

Under South Carolina law, possession of one ounce or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor that carries a fine up to $200 and 30 days in jail for the first offense. Possession of drug paraphernalia is a $500 fine.

And how much are they spending to do all this to so some politicians and the DA can get some publicity about being tough on drugs

In the year 2000 South Carolina had an estimated population of 4,012,012 which ranked the state as having the 26th in population. For that year the State of South Carolina had a total Crime Index of 5,221.4 reported incidents per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 5th highest total Crime Index. For Violent Crime South Carolina had a reported incident rate of 804.9 per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 2nd highest occurrence for Violent Crime among the states. For crimes against Property, the state had a reported incident rate of 4,416.5 per 100,000 people, which ranked as the state 9th highest. Also in the year 2000 South Carolina had 5.8 Murders per 100,000 people, ranking the state as having the 18th highest rate for Murder. South Carolina’s 37.7 reported Forced Rapes per 100,000 people, ranked the state 18th highest. For Robbery, per 100,000 people, South Carolina’s rate was 146.6 which ranked the state as having the 14th highest for Robbery. The state also had 614.8 Aggravated Assaults for every 100,000 people, which indexed the state as having the 1st highest position for this crime among the states. For every 100,000 people there were 969.3 Burglaries, which ranks South Carolina as having the 7th highest standing among the states. Larceny - Theftwas reported 3,068.1 times per hundred thousand people in South Carolina which standing is the 9th highest among the states. Vehicle Theft occurred 379.0 times per 100,000 people, which fixed the state as having the 23rd highest for vehicle

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/sccrime.htm

[Christopher McCandless]

There was me hoping it was Westboro'

[P7PSP]

There was me hoping it was Westboro'

that Phelps is a total fuckhead.

One of of these cunts who are threatened with arrest for possession of pot may roll over even though to secure a conviction really requires either a confession or that the pot be tested as part of a properly drawn up Bill of Particulars. I hope Phelps puts his foot down and tells the prosecutors to piss up a rope, endorsements are worth a lot but confessing is for pussies. The Public was forgiving of unrepentant Robert Mitchum back in the 1950s for pot, and this is not the 1950s. Phelps should definitely re think who his friends are. At least the original Judas Iscariot had the grace to hang himself. Sheriff Leon Lott sounds like an over zealous POS, he should know when to say when.

[Phlexor]

Yeah they are really being arse faces over this but I guess from their point of view winners don't do drugs, oops maybe they do 

So yeah, they don't want all the little kiddies thinking they can pull a killer hit from a bong and then go will medals in sport. It just does not make sense, Chewbacca defence.

[P7PSP]

Yeah they are really being arse faces over this but I guess from their point of view winners don't do drugs, oops maybe they do 

that's fucking funny. :lol:

[punkdrew]

There's a Facebook site titled "I bet a million people don't care that Michael Phelps smoked weed." It was established 10 days ago. As of an hour ago, they're closing in on half a million members.

[The_Chosen_One]

Now if he had weed smoke, I'd have thought it was newsworthy.

[punkdrew]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/56636/saturday-night-live-really-michael-phelps#s-p2-st-i2

[SleepyDragon]

Athletes these days spend more time apologising publicly for misbehaviour than they do playing sport. I do get a laugh, though, from the "apologising sportsman" school of consciousness-raising; so far we've had footy players 'fessing up to being ADHD, sex-addicted, bipolar, alcohol-dependent, you name it. I wonder when some big boofy rugby-league player will out himself as an Aspie, or does being a league player automatically exclude you from being one?

[El]

There's a Facebook site titled "I bet a million people don't care that Michael Phelps smoked weed." It was established 10 days ago. As of an hour ago, they're closing in on half a million members.

I care!  I think it's very important to know that marijuana can be a part of a good Olympic training regimen, and would like to propose a massive study as to whether it is beneficial to other types of atheletes, or the general population at large.

[punkdrew]

The list of professional ball players who've admitted to using weed is a long one, and includes some of the greats:
Duane Thomas and Ricky Williams (both running backs) have used it.
Doc Ellis (Pittsburgh Pirates) pitched a no-hitter while tripping.
There's a site dedicated to famous people who've smoked pot: http://www.celebstoner.com/

[punkdrew]

Also found this at http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/01/a-letter-id-like-to-see-but-wont/

Dear America,

I take it back. I don’t apologize.

Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.

I put myself through hell. I make my body do things nature never really intended us to endure. All world-class athletes do. We do it because you love to watch us push ourselves as far as we can possibly go. Some of us get hurt. Sometimes permanently. You’re watching the Super Bowl tonight. You’re watching 300 pound men smash each while running at full speed, in full pads. You know what the average life expectancy of an NFL player is? Fifty-five. That’s about 20 years shorter than your average non-NFL player. Yet you watch. And cheer. And you jump up spill your beer when a linebacker lays out a wide receiver on a crossing route across the middle. The harder he gets hit, the louder and more enthusiastically you scream.

Yet you all get bent out of shape when Ricky Williams, or I, or Josh Howard smoke a little dope to relax. Why? Because the idiots you’ve elected to make your laws have have without a shred of evidence beat it into your head that smoking marijuana is something akin to drinking antifreeze, and done only by dirty hippies and sex offenders.

You’ll have to pardon my cynicism. But I call bullshit. You don’t give a damn about my health. You just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from grace–all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process. And it’s hypocritical righteousness at that, given that 40 percent of you have tried pot at least once in your lives.

Here’s a crazy thought: If I can smoke a little dope and go on to win 14 Olympic gold medals, maybe pot smokers aren’t doomed to lives of couch surfing and video games, as our moronic government would have us believe. In fact, the list of successful pot smokers includes not just world class athletes like me, Howard, Williams, and others, it includes Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, the last three U.S. presidents, several Supreme Court justices, and luminaries and success stories from all sectors of business and the arts, sciences, and humanities.

So go ahead. Ban me from the next Olympics. Yank my endorsement deals. Stick your collective noses in the air and get all indignant on me. While you’re at it, keep arresting cancer and AIDS patients who dare to smoke the stuff because it deadens their pain, or enables them to eat. Keep sending in goon squads to kick down doors and shoot little old ladies, maim innocent toddlers, handcuff elderly post-polio patients to their beds at gunpoint, and slaughter the family pet.

Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll apologize for smoking pot when every politician who ever did drugs and then voted to uphold or strengthen the drug laws marches his ass off to the nearest federal prison to serve out the sentence he wants to impose on everyone else for committing the same crimes he committed. I’ll apologize when the sons, daughters, and nephews of powerful politicians who get caught possessing or dealing drugs in the frat house or prep school get the same treatment as the no-name, probably black kid caught on the corner or the front stoop doing the same thing.

Until then, I for one will have none of it. I smoked pot. I liked it. I’ll probably do it again. I refuse to apologize for it, because by apologizing I help perpetuate this stupid lie, this idea that what someone puts into his own body on his own time is any of the government’s damned business. Or any of yours. I’m not going to bend over and allow myself to be propaganda for this wasteful, ridiculous, immoral war.

Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But let’s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen . . . is also a proud pot smoker.

Yours,

Michael Phelps

[The_Chosen_One]

And my reply to him is:

Michael

Fuck you! Spare me the hubris, you insincere little turd. You are supposed to be a role model, but like every other prat who thinks their shit don't stink while undertaking some sort of sport deserves not only a life ban but he should return his medals forthwith and have his name stricken from the record books. Sure, it may have been weed, but you are still a druggie, and a fucking cheat as well.

Expect medals in return mail.

Yours
TCO
On behalf of all decent sportsmen (and women) out there.

[McGiver]

And my reply to him is:

Michael

Fuck you! Spare me the hubris, you insincere little turd. You are supposed to be a role model, but like every other prat who thinks their shit don't stink while undertaking some sort of sport deserves not only a life ban but he should return his medals forthwith and have his name stricken from the record books. Sure, it may have been weed, but you are still a druggie, and a fucking cheat as well.

Expect medals in return mail.

Yours
TCO
On behalf of all decent sportsmen (and women) out there.

jealous faggot

[Phlexor]

And my reply to him is:

Michael

Fuck you! Spare me the hubris, you insincere little turd. You are supposed to be a role model, but like every other prat who thinks their shit don't stink while undertaking some sort of sport deserves not only a life ban but he should return his medals forthwith and have his name stricken from the record books. Sure, it may have been weed, but you are still a druggie, and a fucking cheat as well.

Expect medals in return mail.

Yours
TCO
On behalf of all decent sportsmen (and women) out there.

Shut up asshole. Weed is nothing. All this proves is that you can still win a shitload of medals even if you smoke weed. He should get an extra medal for that alone.