Michael Phelps Puts a Face to a Smoking Injustice

Marijuana drug arrests in communities of color are a common occurrence. Yet, recent news of swimmer Michael Phelps involvement with the drug is casting a whole new light on the fairness of current marijuana policy and is jumpstarting an international dialogue that is long overdue.

Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps looks like a lanky, likeable kid. And when I saw that now-infamous picture of him smoking a marijuana pipe, I have to admit my first thought wasn't how this was going to affect his swimming career, but rather how he was lucky he was a white, lanky likeable kid.

Had he been black or brown chances are that he would have been pawning one of those gold medals for his bail. He may still have to but the fact is he's still free while eight others who partied with him are finding themselves cuffed and jailed.

Authorities say they are building a case against Phelps by arresting those eight unlucky potheads. It doesn't matter that sheriff's deputies admit to only confiscating an ounce of marijuana. It's against the law to smoke, possess or share the drug with anyone and so manpower and taxpayer money will be dedicated to bringing Phelps to justice -- the threat to society that he is.

I can't help but think that for thousands of African Americans and Latinos who have found themselves in the same situation as Phelps, law enforcement has never been so patient when it comes to waiting to arrest them for smoking pot -- and they weren't even photographed in the act!

Phelps' involvement may be temporarily bad for his endorsement career but it's a good thing for highlighting the need for change in our marijuana drug laws, especially for the sake of people of color. It's been documented with federal data and by both The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch organizations that there exists large disparities in the rate at which people of color and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, even though both groups have almost equal rates of illegal drug use.

Taking into consideration that our jails are overflowing; one in nine black men between the ages of 20-34-years-old and 1 in 36 adult Hispanic men comprise the prison population; and 2006 drug-related arrests totaled 1.89 million with 4 in 10 of those arrests for marijuana possession, then it's easy to see that there is bad government policy dictating our drug laws regarding marijuana and it's adversely impacting black and Latino communities.

As much as the "Just Say No" crowd would like to criminally equate marijuana with crack cocaine and heroin, the truth of the matter is that the public doesn't see it that way.

In the days following Phelps' "situation," an NBC Dallas affiliate asked its viewers to text into the station whether A. Phelps should be charged; B. He should make a televised apology and that's it or C. He's been through enough -- 62 percent said he's been through enough.

The national movement to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes is gaining steam as well.

One of the submissions in the "Ideas for Change in America" competition that made it among the top ten to be presented to President Obama after his inauguration was legalizing the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. It garnered almost 20,000 votes from people who visited the site.

Supporters of the idea are encouraged that they finally have Washington's ear since an Obama White House spokesman spoke out against the Drug Enforcement Agency's policy of raiding state-legal medical marijuana outlets.

But the push to legalize marijuana isn't confined to the United States. This week, the former presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil presented a report to the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy where they called for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use and a change in tactics on the war on drugs.

Cesar Gaviria, former president of Colombia, said, "The problem is that current policies are based on prejudices and fears and not on results."

It's these same prejudices that would rather lock up and throw away the keys to cells housing people of color who are only as guilty as Phelps. The only difference is that no one is taking into account the impact of their arrests on their futures.

It's time we did.

Comments

[Jamie Shahan]

(part 5)

I've just had enough of black people trying to act like white people are holding them down. We're not. Pick yourself up by your boot-straps, study hard in school, get a job, work yourself up the ranks, and make something of yourself. Use Obama as an example that its possible. He did not grow up rich, he did not have things handed to him, and he was not specially priveleged. He built himself from nothing, so can you. Stop complaining about white people and the system, maaaaan.

linger longer.

[Jamie Shahan]

(part 4)

I'm sick of this white man holding me down crap. No we're not. A black man is the president. Game over. Racism no longer has enough relevance in this country to stop a black man from becoming President of the United States, the leader of the free world. A black man is at the pinnacle of the free world. All bets, ARE OFF! No longer can you say the white man is holding me down enough to stop you from becoming anything you want to be, because a black man has reached the highest, most prestigious position in this entire country. This proves that there is not enough racism left in this country to stop a black man who works hard, carrys himself well, makes his way through schooling, and has perserverance from doing WHATEVER he wants. If a black man such as Obama tries hard, works hard, and doesn't give up, he can make a damn good name for himself. So stop with the white man runs the system, and its holding me down babble. Its old and irrelevant.

[Jamie Shahan]

(part 3)

As a side note, your stats (1 in 9 black men and 1 in 36 hispanics are in jail ages 20 to 34, 1.89 million drug arrests in 2006 with 4 in 10 being for marijuana) do NOT conclude that "it's easy to see that there is bad government policy dictating our drug laws regarding marijuana and it's adversely impacting black and Latino communities". How in the blue hell do you draw that conclusion??? That conclusion has absolutely nothing to do with the statistics you provided. First, you did not say how many of those black and hispanic men are in jail for crimes such as rape, murder, kidnap, robbery, battery, etc. You're trying to make believe that most of those minorities are in jail for smoking pot, and thats a load of bull. There is no statistics provided that tell the reader how many minorities are in jail for posessing or smoking marijuana. Second, you give no statistics for white people to compare the minority stastics to. I do not know what they are, and i'm not going to look them up, but you're trying to play the race card, saying the system adversely impacts minorities, when you give no example of how it does not adversely impact white people. That statement is nothing but an opinion of yours; none of the stastical facts you provided are relevant.

[Jamie Shahan]

(part 2)

Yes, there was a lot of witnesses at the party, and 8 of them were arrested. However, they were not arrested for smoking pot at the party. They were arrested for posession of marijuana. The cops got a warrant to search their apartment (i'm guessing), and found them to be in posession of an illegal substance. That is hard proof that holds up in a court of law. That's why they were arrested. And by the way, don't tell me all 8 of them were black, because that would be as much of a crock of crap as the rest of this article.

[johnnycmlately]

I'm outraged. Didn't Phelps now the rule......­...Puff-Pu­ff give?

[Just4theHalibut]

The drug laws/enforcement are a result of an unholy alliance between Big Pharm, mafia-type criminals and the super-religious right. Marijuana should be legalized, taxed, and tested for contaminants just like cigarettes should have been. A modest allowance of grow-your-own should be allowed, like homemade beer making. All constraining laws that apply to alcohol AND tobacco should be applied. The big problem I see is making youth understand why they should not be using it. Some science-based curriculum is called for; there is plentiful evidence of the negative affects of most drugs including pot on young growing brains compared to adult brains.

I also have hopes for Obama on this issue but suppose it is a long shot.

[southernsepia]

Thank you for this post. The disparity is not only in law enforcement.

If a Black public figure had been caught, Americans would have been venting their moral outrage.
Because it was Phelps, they could relate and there for felt it was no big deal.

[Jamie Shahan]

to southernsepia: you could not be more wrong. When has "moral outrage" been thrown at a black figure who smokes drugs? Obama wrote in his book that he has smoked cocaine, he is now the president. I saw no "moral outrage". Ricky Williams, former heisman trophy winner and current running back for the miami dolphins, was caught by the NFL for having pot in his system NUMEROUS times. Granted, he was suspended by the NFL for each instance he tested positive for marijuana, but never arrested. Michael Phelps was suspended from the swim team for 3 months, a long time for a swimmer. The list of black people who have been caught with drugs and the public showed no "moral outrage" (athelete or not) could continue on for pages. So where is this "moral outrage" toward black figures for drugs? Just a few examples of moral outrage toward white figures - 1. Former Governer Elliot Spitzer, of new york. Resigned for getting caught having sex with a prostitute. 2. Form House of Rep. Mark Foley. Resigned from congress after the FBI busted him for having sexually explicit instant message conversations with underage males. 3. Former senate member Larry Craig. Arrested and resigned as Congress member for getting caught soliciting homosexual lewd conduct in a public airport. All three of these white political figures experienced a major uproar from the general public, all within the past 2 years. So don't swing it that theres only "moral outrage" towards black figures.

[klinker1]

When will those in power to do something about it admit the utter failure of the war on drugs. It has succeeded only in making a lot of people a lot of money from the drug testing companies to law enforcement. One person gets to claim and blame his wild, youthful inexperience and make a lot of money with his talent. The other gets to go away to prison for basically the same thing which ends up costing us even more---and we all lose in the bargain.

[ohioan73]

Coming from an inner city crack infested environment did not prepare me for what I would discover about rural white kids after I went off to college in the 90s. I was thoroughly shocked and taken-aback by the creative and various ways white kids got "high". Whippets, cat tranquilizers, crystal meth, xstasy, Xanax...?? I had previously only heard of crack, heroin, and weed before that. I had never known how sheltered and conservative the black community was before I met rural white kids. I thought I had seen it all.

So much attention is focused on the misgivings­/shortcomi­ngs of minorities and their drug use that white kids get passed over while THEY are the ones in serious need of drug awareness programs. I have a white bf and many of his white childhood buddies and acquaintances see nothing wrong with casual cocaine use and popping pills that aren't prescribed to them. Ten year olds smoking cigarettes­..etc. I cant stress how much that is a "no-no" in black world.

I never thought I'd say something like this but, white kids are seriously at risk! Where do they learn this behavior? They are being ignored obviously because it is widely known in black world that white kids do too many drugs.

[RoloTomassi]

Indeed, I agree, but around here you're preaching to the choir; the vast majority of the HuffPo community [if you can call it that] agrees with you and many [myself included] take it much farther in regards to the legalization and taxation of other controlled substances.

But the privatized prison system, corrupt government agents and police officers, bribed politicians, big pharma lobbyist and religious fanatics all do everything they can to maintain the drug war status quo.

Will Barak Obama be the first president in my lifetime [other than Jimmy Carter's failed effort] to address this issue like a sane adult representative of the people? I would love to think so, but I have my doubts....