Michael Phelps, Hypocrisy, and American Drug...

Will poor Americans, overwhelmingly minority in ethnicity, continue to be arrested by local police for the possession of small amounts of pot?

A study released [in April, 2008] reported that between 1998 and 2007 [in New York City], the police arrested 374,900 people whose most serious crime was the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana offense. That is more than eight times the number of arrests on those same charges between 1988 and 1997, when 45,300 people were picked up for having a small amount of pot...
...Nearly everyone involved in this wave of marijuana arrests is male: 90 percent were men, although national studies show that men and women use pot in roughly equal rates. And 83 percent of those charged in these cases were black or Latino, according to the study. Blacks accounted for 52 percent of the arrests, twice their share of the city's population. Whites, who are about 35 percent of the population, were only 15 percent of those charged -- even though federal surveys show that whites are more likely than blacks or Latinos to use pot.
Among the pretty large population of white people who have used pot and not been arrested for it is Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Asked during the 2001 campaign by New York magazine if he had ever smoked it, Mr. Bloomberg replied: "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it." After he was elected and his remarks were used in advertisements by marijuana legalization advocates, Mr. Bloomberg said his administration would vigorously enforce the laws.While marijuana laws have changed over time, and while past administrations have attempted to show that the situation isn't as dire as it appears to be, drug policy in the United States is immensely hypocritical and destructive. Today, public figures justify past drug use as "youthful indiscretions" and the matter is dropped. But huge numbers of ordinary Americans are introduced to the jail system because of minor drug offenses, and as the records show, the overwhelmingly disproportionate nature of drug arrests creates a justified perception of injustice and both economic and racial bias.
Will Michael Phelps have to go to court for his actions? No. (Nor should he have to.) Will any law enforcement jurisdiction in America conduct a systematic raid of a college dorm at a prominent university with the goal of arresting everyone in possession of marijuana? Of course not. If such an action was taken on a broad scale, the arrests would likely be in the thousands. At the same time, will poor Americans, overwhelmingly minority in ethnicity, continue to be arrested by local police for the possession of small amounts of pot? Absolutely.
Before he was president, Obama indicated that he was well aware that marijuana laws needed to be reformed and that the mythology of the "war on drugs" was nothing more than a fairy tale:

Photo of Phelps smoking bong unites pot smokers

The photo circulating around the Internet of world-famous Olympian Michael Phelps smoking a bong seems to be getting a positive response from the outspoken internet community of marijuana users. The photo first appeared in 'News of the World,' and made its way to the celebrity magazines.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports that the PR fiasco that has surrounded this picture has come mostly in the form of You-tube parodies and clever blog-spots. Eddie Izzard responded with a 'Stoned Olympics' routine. A Facebook group titled 'I don't care that Michael Phelps smoked a bong' sprung up and attracted hundreds of members overnight. Given that Michael Phelps was the most popular person on Facebook this summer, topping even Barack Obama, it seems natural -- even organic -- that the Internet community could forgive him for smoking pot.

The Richland County sheriff alleges that Phelps may face charges, if the date of the photo was recorded. "I just don't think...you can publicize and say I'm sorry, and we'll just forget about it. He's not above the law.

"However, after Jeanne Moos' report, CNN's American Morning anchor John Roberts questioned the sheriff's assertion. "I don't think smoking it is a crime," he said.

LinkHere