S.C. authorities considering criminal charges against Phelps

S.C. authorities considering criminal charges against Phelps

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Olympic superstar Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo that surfaced showing the swimmer smoking from a marijuana pipe at a University of South Carolina house party.

A spokesman for Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who was known for his tough stance on drugs, said on Tuesday the department was investigating.

"Our narcotics division is reviewing the information that we have, and they're investigating what charges, if any, will be filed," said Lt. Chris Cowan, a spokesman for agency.

The photo first shown in British tabloid News of the World on Sunday was snapped during a November party while Phelps was visiting the university, according to the paper.

Phelps, 23, and his team have not disputed the photo's accuracy. Phelps has issued a public apology, acknowledging "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after the photo appeared.

One of Phelps' agents, Drew Johnson, said Tuesday authorities had not contacted the swimmer. "So we really can't speculate," he said.

Last fall, Phelps was introduced to large applause at South Carolina's football game with Arkansas. He met with players and visited with Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, who gave Phelps one of the ball coach's trademark visors.

Phelps also spoke at a university class on sports' role in society.

Where exactly the party occurred isn't clear. The university said its police have no evidence it was on campus, and city police said they won't pursue criminal charges unless more information comes forward.

The Richland County sheriff can pursue charges as long as the party was in the county, the spokesman said.

"The bottom line is, if he broke the law, and he did it in Richland County, he's going to be charged," Cowan said. "And there's no difference between Michael Phelps and several other people that we arrest for the same type of a charge everyday."

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 paraphernalia is a $500 fine.

The Richland County sheriff has long sought to fight drug crimes. He rose from patrol officer to captain of the narcotics division in the early 1990s, after the television series Miami Vice made its splash.

Lott played the part well. He wore stylish suits and had long hair then. He drove a Porsche seized from a drug dealer and even worked undercover with federal agents in Florida.

Have they really nothing better to do? If convicted he's looking at what, a $200-500 fine. How many thousands of dollars will they waste on this investigation?

morons.

catbox_9 wrote:

Have they really nothing better to do? If convicted he's looking at what, a $200-500 fine. How many thousands of dollars will they waste on this investigation?

morons.

And just think if the legalized marijuana smoking

This would be a non issue


And another thing


Just because Phelps was photographed smoking a bong; how does that make him guilty


Was there even dope in the bong


Beware of big Brother

Technically, that "bong" is a tobacco pipe. When you purchase one at a store the clerks are legally required to refer to them as such. If you mention using them for any use other than legal drugs they are not supposed to sell them to you.

The picture shows Phelps and the "tobacco pipe" with no other drug paraphernalia so the picture proves nothing. Then again, he admitted to using marijuana.

Why don't the feds check out myspace/facebook....tons of people post pictures of themselves using illegal drugs. Why not prosecute them?

This dumbass DA just wants to make a name for himself prosecuting someone famous even if it is an insanely bogus charge.

They better go after all the others that were with him! Obama needs to be prosecuted too then, he admitted to using drugs!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

They better go after all the others that were with him! Obama needs to be prosecuted too then, he admitted to using drugs!

I was at school today and people were talking about their current/past drug use. Better throw them in jail.

Some guy tried to buy crack from me today. He probably should be in jail since he must smoke crack if he wanted to buy crack. Possession of 5+ grams of crack can be punishable by 5 years in prison (it takes 500 grams of cocaine for that penalty ). Better lock him up, too!

catbox_9 wrote:

Technically, that "bong" is a tobacco pipe. When you purchase one at a store the clerks are legally required to refer to them as such. If you mention using them for any use other than legal drugs they are not supposed to sell them to you.

The picture shows Phelps and the "tobacco pipe" with no other drug paraphernalia so the picture proves nothing. Then again, he admitted to using marijuana.

Why don't the feds check out myspace/facebook....tons of people post pictures of themselves using illegal drugs. Why not prosecute them?

This dumbass DA just wants to make a name for himself prosecuting someone famous even if it is an insanely bogus charge.

Phelps should not have admitted anything


Not like he is on trial for some photo


Scary how a random photo can incriminate someone


Like I said

Beware Big Brother

I am surprised some jackass hasn't suggested Phelps turn in his medals

gs78 wrote:

I am surprised some jackass hasn't suggested Phelps turn in his medals

Yeah, THC is a steroid (it's not really a steroid but it does have 3 rings in its structure, 2 of which are all-carbon. Steroid have 4 rings which are all carbon) so he should be banned.

Marijuana is a gateway drug* so you might as well arrest him for smoking crack, too.

*The notion of a gateway drug is pretty stupid. Just because crack users are former marijuana users doesn't mean anything. Correlation doesn't prove causation. I'll bet most crack addicts drank milk as children. Using the logic that marijuana/cigarettes/alcohol is a gateway drug then surely milk (or even water) is a gateway drug, too.

It is like the logic I heard years ago... all cancer patients have used toilet paper, thus toilet paper causes cancer!

Just because someone tries pot does not mean they WILL use harder drugs! I know lots of people who tried pot and never used any other drugs...including pot, again.

Or like they tell us in introductory statistics....

Data has shown that in New York the murder rate increases with ice cream sales. Data has also shown that cities with more churches have more murders.

Of course causation does not imply causality. Ice cream sales increase in the summer. More murders happen in the summer do to heat, etc. Cities with more churches are bigger cities. Bigger cities have more murders.

Of course back in elementary school the fine folks from DARE taught us that if we even held someone's cigarette for them we'd become crack addicts.

South Park had a good episode related to gateway drugs. In "My Future Self and Me" the boys see a joint that some older kids left behind. They want to dispose of it but are afraid. One of them does and his parents must have seen this happen because they trick him into believing his future self has come back in time and is a real drug addict. This will scare him away from drugs.

He has been suspended for 3 months and Kellogg has dropped him as a sponsor. This is ridiculous. I've never even tried marijuana (or even tobacco) in my life but I still think the reaction to this is outrageous. If only he'd have gotten really drunk and done something stupid. That would be "legal".

Not that I'm condoning drug use, but marijuana is probably healthier than alcohol. No human has ever overdosed on THC - probably because it is impossible. It is estimated that a person would have to smoke 1500 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes to die. Other studies suggest the effective dose of marijuana is 1000 times lower than the estimated lethal dose (a safety ratio of 1000:1). This number is significantly higher than alcohol which has a safety ratio of 10:1 - barely higher than heroin's 6:1 and lower than cocaine's 15:1. Nicotine is also more deadly to overdose on than THC although it, too is impossible from smoking alone (people have OD'd from smoking while using gum and patches).

As for Kellogg, they'd better look closely at all the people they sponsor. I'm sure some of them have done a lot worse. I for one will continue to eat Post and General Mills cereal.

Another thing about alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana.

A key reason why marijuana is illegal is because of the tobacco and alcohol companies. The Alcohol and Tobacco industries are the #1 funders of the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Irony and hypocrisy at its finest considering these two industries both sell products that have been proven by every statistic and logic to be exponentially more harmful than weed.

catbox_9 wrote:

He has been suspended for 3 months and Kellogg has dropped him as a sponsor. This is ridiculous. I've never even tried marijuana (or even tobacco) in my life but I still think the reaction to this is outrageous. If only he'd have gotten really drunk and done something stupid. That would be "legal".

Not that I'm condoning drug use, but marijuana is probably healthier than alcohol. No human has ever overdosed on THC - probably because it is impossible. It is estimated that a person would have to smoke 1500 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes to die. Other studies suggest the effective dose of marijuana is 1000 times lower than the estimated lethal dose (a safety ratio of 1000:1). This number is significantly higher than alcohol which has a safety ratio of 10:1 - barely higher than heroin's 6:1 and lower than cocaine's 15:1. Nicotine is also more deadly to overdose on than THC although it, too is impossible from smoking alone (people


have OD'd from smoking while using gum and patches).







As for Kellogg, they'd better look closely at all the people they sponsor. I'm sure some of them have done a lot worse. I for one will continue to eat Post and General Mills cereal.

I am boycotting Kellogg's

Wheaties should put Phelps on their boxes of cereal

Go Wheaties!