14-times Olympic gold medal winner caught in photo doing Pot

[packers11]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/150832/14-times-Olympic-gold-medal-winner-Michael-Phelps-caught-with-bong-cannabis-pipe.html

[mraynrand]

ENOUGH! Don't be harshin on the man!

http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/mraynrand/tokinobama.jpg

[Kiwon]

Wait a minute! I thought the guy was eating 12,000 calories a day when he trains.

OMG, add the munchies due to the pot to that total and who knows how much he will eat!

DO NOT ask Phelps to your party. There won't be any food left.

[Kiwon]

Phelps needs to get back to South Carolina and find the guy who took and sold the photo.

He just probably cost Phelps millions of $ in endorsements.

[MadtownPacker]

Nothing but a bunch of fucking haters. I hope they all die slow deaths for being such punk ass bitches.

[bobblehead]

I'd really like to see him come out and say "yes, I enjoy a fatty sometimes. Party at my pad"

Instead of all the sorrow and it was a mistake crap that is coming soon.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I'd really like to see him come out and say "yes, I enjoy a fatty sometimes. Party at my pad"

Instead of all the sorrow and it was a mistake crap that is coming soon.

He would lose all his endorsement contracts.

But come to think of it, he must have bankrolled several million by now.

It would take some balls for him to speak truthfully.

[Kiwon]

Phelps apologizes for 'bad judgment' in marijuana photo

The Associated Press

Olympic great Michael Phelps acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper Sunday showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

In a statement released to the Associated Press, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games did not dispute the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

News of the World said the picture was taken during a November house party while Phelps was visiting the University of South Carolina. During that trip, he attended one of the school's football games and received a big ovation when he was introduced to the crowd.

While the newspaper did not specifically allege that Phelps was smoking marijuana, it did say the pipe is generally used for that purpose and anonymously quoted a partygoer who said the Olympic champion was "out of control from the moment he got there."

The party occurred nearly three months after the Olympics, while Phelps was taking a long break from training, and apparently would have no impact on the eight golds he won at Beijing. He has never tested positive for banned substances and even agreed to extra testing before the games.

Phelps was in Tampa, during Super Bowl week to make promotional appearances on behalf of a sponsor. But he left the city before Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, abandoning his original plan to be at Raymond James Stadium.

Phelps returned to the pool a couple of weeks ago to begin preparations for this summer's world championships in Rome. He plans to take part in his first post-Olympics meet in early March, a Grand Prix event in Austin, Texas.

This isn't the first embarrassing episode for Phelps after an Olympic triumph. In 2004, a few months after winning six gold and two bronze medals in Athens, the swimmer was arrested on a drunken driving charge at age 19. He pleaded guilty and apologized for the mistake.

In his book No Limits: The Will to Succeed, Phelps recounted how his first phone call was to his agent, and not his mother or coach Bob Bowman, because he knew they would yell at him.

Later, he called Bowman, who was supportive but told him, "Michael, just because you want to blow off some steam doesn't mean you can be an idiot."

Debbie Phelps, his mother, cried at the news.

"That hurt worse, maybe, than anything," Phelps wrote. "I had never seen my mother that upset."

Bowman did not immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages Sunday.

Olympic teammate Dara Torres said Phelps has become such a prominent figure that everything he does is news.

However, she said: "This in no way shape or form diminishes anything he's done."

"It's sort of a double-edged sword," Torres told the AP on Sunday. "When you're recognizable, you're looked up to as a role model. He is recognizable and everything you do gets looked at and picked apart. I guess that's the price of winning 14 Olympic medals."

Jason Lezak, whose remarkable anchor leg of the 400-meter freestyle relay helped Phelps stay on course to break Mark Spitz's record in Beijing, said he was "saddened" to hear of the report.

"While I don't condone his conduct, I am a teammate and fan," Lezak said in a text message to the AP on Saturday night. "Unlike many fair-weather people, I am sticking by him. If my wife and I can help him in any way, we will. I believe he will grow from this and be better person, role model and teammate."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-02-01-michael-phelps_N.htm

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Shoulda been smokin crack...the pipe is way smaller.

[bobblehead]

Wonder what that pic was worth. I have one of him slobbering drunk at a roulette table in vegas....just more "regrettable" behavior I guess.

[Freak Out]

I could care less if he smokes some herb and has a cocktail every now and again..he should have a legal right to do both....but it sounds now like he his promoters/agents tried to bribe the newspaper to stop them from running the photo which will probably do more to harm him than anything else....and it sounds like he knew about the attempts to bribe them.

[red]

its not like the guy is a surgeon or a cop

he swims, he does nothing that effects anyone else but him. plus i'm sure he's already made more then enough where he never has to work again in his life

live it up guy

[mraynrand]

its not like the guy is a surgeon or a cop

he swims, he does nothing that effects anyone else but him. plus i'm sure he's already made more then enough where he never has to work again in his life

live it up guy

Party on, Bud!

http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/hot_boxing.jpg

[Kiwon]

Update: The $100,000 bong and eight arrests.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00025/phelps_516_0102_25518a.jpg

"WIS-TV says police also tracked down the bong after its owner tried to sell it on eBay for $100,000. The owner, who was not at the party where Phelps was photographed, is one of the eight people charged in the case, the TV station says."

TV report: Eight arrested in link to Phelps bong incident

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/02/tv-report-eight.html

[Freak Out]

What a joke.

[Zool]

Wow what a moron trying to sell a bong on eBay. Did we learn nothing from Tommy Chong?

[Harlan Huckleby]

TV report: Eight arrested in link to Phelps bong incident


What a disgrace. Sending people to jail because they prefer the relative mild effects of pot to getting wasted on alchohol. The majority kicking around the minority again.

[mraynrand]

What's the deal with selling a bong? When I was a kid I used to get comic books at a store where they had about 300 different kinds of pipes and bongs on sale. Has that changed? Plus, it certainly looks like a sculpture to me...

http://www.moviecitynews.com/static_images/images/2004/200x200/meet_parents.jpg

[Freak Out]

What's the deal with selling a bong? When I was a kid I used to get comic books at a store where they had about 300 different kinds of pipes and bongs on sale. Has that changed? Plus, it certainly looks like a sculpture to me...

http://www.moviecitynews.com/static_images/images/2004/200x200/meet_parents.jpg

When I was growing up you could buy pipes/bongs all over the place...but so many laws have changed over the years I'm surprised you can even talk about a bong let alone find one to buy.

Land of the free.......

[Tyrone Bigguns]

You can sell a bong, but once it has been used and there is resin or residual pot in there..it is a crime.

Remember, a bong is strictly for tobacco use. :roll:

[Freak Out]

This is just to much.

Posted on Thu, Feb. 12, 2009
Lawyer: At least 8 arrested in attempt to build Phelps drug case
By RICK BRUNDRETT
rbrundrett@thestate.com

As many as eight people have been arrested on drug charges in an effort to build a marijuana possession case against Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, an attorney for one of the defendants confirmed this morning.

Longtime Columbia attorney Dick Harpootlian said Richland County Sheriff's deputies arrested his client - whom he declined to identify -- in a raid Saturday at his Lake Murray-area home after seizing a small amount of marijuana.

"He's sitting there on Saturday, and 12 cops kick in the door with guns drawn, search his house and find 5, maybe 6, grams of pot," Harpootlian said."They never asked him, 'Who sold you the pot?' ... They were asking, 'Were you at the party with Michael Phelps? Did you see him using marijuana?' It was all about Michael Phelps."

Local defense attorney Joseph McCulloch also said he is representing someone in the case.

Harpootlian, a former solicitor for Richland and Kershaw counties, said in his entire legal career he had "never seen a search warrant executed for simple possession of marijuana."

Harpootlian said deputies arrested another person who was with his client, adding the pair were roommates at the Blossom Street home where Phelps attended a November party. As many as six other people have been charged connection with the Richland County Sheriff's Department investigation, several of whom were charged after deputies recently raided the Blossom Street home, he said.

"All these people have been asked the same questions," Harpootlian said. "It's all about Michael Phelps."

Phelps has publicly confirmed he was pictured holding a bong at the party, though he hasn't admitted specifically using marijuana.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has said he would charge Phelps if there is evidence a crime was committed, though no charges have been issued.

Harpootlian said his client - a 21-year-old currently on leave from USC - was with Phelps at the November party but told investigators he didn't see Phelps using marijuana.

Still, deputies seized four laptop computers, a desktop computer and a computer storage drive from his client's home -- supposedly to try to find evidence against Phelps, Harpootlian said, adding they refused his request Wednesday to return the items to his client.

"I don't think they had the authority to seize them to begin with," he said.

Harpootlian said his client was taken to jail but was released later on a personal recognizance bond, which means he didn't have to put up any bail money. He said he is trying to get his client into a "conditional discharge" program that would allow the possession charge to be eventually dismissed, noting that in his experience, "99 percent" of first-time marijuana possession cases are handled that way.

Harpootlian questioned why Lott is devoting large amount of resources on simple marijuana possession cases against his client and others to try to implicate Phelps.

"This is marijuana -- 50 percent of all Americans have smoked marijuana at one time or another," Harpootlian said. "A college kid smoking pot -- I don't endorse it ... but should you be committing very important resources to it?"

Lott was out of town this morning and could not be reached for comment. He previously has declined to discuss the case against Harpootlian's client with The State.

"As soon as we're ready to release information on this case we will and we're still in the middle of this investigation," Lt. Chris Cowan, sheriff's department spokesman, told the Associated Press.

McCulloch said his client and the roommate used to live at the house where the party that Phelps apparently attended took place, but they have since moved out of the city. Richland County deputies searched the alleged party home and then searched the room-mates' new home in Irmo and made the arrests, he said.

He said his client was out of town when the swimmer visited the city and said he doubted that anything the client or his roommate — who has a different lawyer — told police would assist them in the case against Phelps.

"Our clients answered questions but I don't know that their information would be helpful to law enforcement," he said. "It seems to me that Richland County has a host of its own crime problems much more serious than a kid featured in a photograph with a bong in his hand."

On a "Good Morning America" broadcast this morning, McCulloch characterized the arrests as "a fascination, if not an effort, to destroy a public hero."

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.

The photo and Lott’s vow to investigate Phelps have been hotly debated in the media here and abroad. There have been op-ed columns in, among others, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post and on Newsweek.com, some criticizing Phelps and some, Lott.

The notorious photo of the champion Olympic swimmer appears to have been taken at the house at 2201 Blossom St., where five witnesses interviewed by The State say Phelps partied.

The house, which sits on a hill, has a wraparound porch that early last week was littered with pizza boxes, broken beer bottles and a keg. Pictures of scantily clad women were taped to the front door.

Two security cameras guard the porch, sending a live stream to a flat-screen television just inside the front door.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

[red]

yeah, there was a place in grand rapids, i think its still there that was right downtown and had a whole room for pipes and bongs

the purple east

perfectly legal, because like ty said, they're only ment for tobacco

[mraynrand]

yeah, there was a place in grand rapids, i think its still there that was right downtown and had a whole room for pipes and bongs

the purple east

perfectly legal, because like ty said, they're only ment for tobacco

The exact same store was in Eau Claire. Can't remember the name anymore. Buncha pipes and bongs, Amazing Spider Man mags, Eagles playing, and some dude with tats and funny goggles selling shit from behind (and occasionally under) the counter. 25 cent cokes in bottles from the machine out front.

http://www.retroantiques.com.au/VendingMachines/images/1960sCokeMachine_01.jpg

[swede]

The exact same store was in Eau Claire. Can't remember the name anymore. Buncha pipes and bongs, Amazing Spider Man mags, Eagles playing, and some dude with tats and funny goggles selling shit from behind (and occasionally under) the counter. 25 cent cokes in bottles from the machine out front.

Did you grow up in Eau Claire, or were you a member of the Bridgeman Hall Kazoo Band?

[mraynrand]

The exact same store was in Eau Claire. Can't remember the name anymore. Buncha pipes and bongs, Amazing Spider Man mags, Eagles playing, and some dude with tats and funny goggles selling shit from behind (and occasionally under) the counter. 25 cent cokes in bottles from the machine out front.

Did you grow up in Eau Claire, or were you a member of the Bridgeman Hall Kazoo Band?

I was there for a year - sixth grade. ??? I don't get the Band ref, but it was funny just the same.

[swede]

The exact same store was in Eau Claire. Can't remember the name anymore. Buncha pipes and bongs, Amazing Spider Man mags, Eagles playing, and some dude with tats and funny goggles selling shit from behind (and occasionally under) the counter. 25 cent cokes in bottles from the machine out front.

Did you grow up in Eau Claire, or were you a member of the Bridgeman Hall Kazoo Band?

I was there for a year - sixth grade. ??? I don't get the Band ref, but it was funny just the same.

I had a friend who went to Eau Claire and lived in Bridgeman Hall, the Animal House of that particular campus.

On one weekend I stayed over some of the hockey players caulked pieces of plywood over the tiled entrances into the shower room. They then closed up the drains and filled the shower room with three feet of water to create a water polo arena.

And they apparently had a kazoo band of some renown that marched is some annual parade in Eau Claire.

I know that Michael Phelps would have enjoyed being with us on a memorable stroll we took along the bluffs overlooking the river.

[Freak Out]

The exact same store was in Eau Claire. Can't remember the name anymore. Buncha pipes and bongs, Amazing Spider Man mags, Eagles playing, and some dude with tats and funny goggles selling shit from behind (and occasionally under) the counter. 25 cent cokes in bottles from the machine out front.

Did you grow up in Eau Claire, or were you a member of the Bridgeman Hall Kazoo Band?

I was there for a year - sixth grade. ??? I don't get the Band ref, but it was funny just the same.

I had a friend who went to Eau Claire and lived in Bridgeman Hall, the Animal House of that particular campus.

On one weekend I stayed over some of the hockey players caulked pieces of plywood over the tiled entrances into the shower room. They then closed up the drains and filled the shower room with three feet of water to create a water polo arena.

And they apparently had a kazoo band of some renown that marched is some annual parade in Eau Claire.

I know that Michael Phelps would have enjoyed being with us on a memorable stroll we took along the bluffs overlooking the river.

:lol:

:worship: :smk:

Those are the kind of college memories that I cherish.