Oh, I get it.

[demiurgent]

I think I figured out why Those People Who Get Their Underwear Bunched Up Uncomfortably Over Dumbass Things are doing the aforementioned thing with Michael Phelps, after Phelps was filmed taking a hit off a bong at a party.

They're upset, and talking about what kind of role model he thinks he's being, and as I recall Katie Couric asked if this means he might be taking performance enchancing drugs too (um... no, Katie. No, this doesn't mean anything beyond the fact that for a couple of hours Phelps was craving raw cookie dough). But that's not the real reason for their concern.

The real reason for their concern is this challenges the pravda.

The pravda is simple: if you smoke pot, you will either go on to harder stuff and then your brain will explode and you will die or kill people, or you will sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing with your life, ever. There is no middle ground.

Now, a man who went to the Olympics and effectively pwned them -- one of the greatest and most dedicated athletes in the world -- has been outed as someone who likes to catch the occasional buzz. And has neither gone on to harder stuff, nor killed anyone, nor wasted his life on the couch.

It's not that he's a bad role model -- it's that he's inconvenient as a role model now, in other words. If someone can use recreational marijuana and still will more medals than God at the Olympics, then it suggests that maybe... just maybe... pot isn't that dangerous a drug. That maybe... it's just a way to enjoy yourself for a little while.

And that's nothing these people want getting out. We have to think of the children.

Comments

[flemco.livejournal.com]

FUCK the children.

As a Gen Y parent, I'm sick to fucking death of this society that waters everything down for the children. My daughter is 7 years old, nearly 8. She shoots her rifle (which is truly HER rifle, a .22 I bought explicitly for her use) better at 50 yards than most my adult friends. I have taught her how to take apart an engine, how to throw a knife, how to beat the shit out of someone. We don't go down to the rubber-coated playground at the local park. We go hiking along the lake, where there are poisonous snakes and wasps. I have taught her how to build a fire, how to draw the things she sees, how to kill zombies. We've already read The Hobbit. I have shown her the joy of various hard fantasy books - right now we're reading The Graveyard Book by Gaiman, and damn the folks who would claim the subject is too dark for a 7 year old.

Children want to explore. A parent can tell the kid to stop, to only explore that which is deemed acceptable... or you can guide your child to go farther, better than you did.

Fuck watering shit down for the kids. They don't want it, and we don't want kids growing up stupid.

When (and I have no doubt it will be a when rather than an if) my kid smokes weed, daddy will take an interest. And I will show her what the good shit is, how to separate seeds and stems, and also give her an in-depth run down of the various drugs I've tried. I'll shoot straight with her on all of them, including meth.

I haven't raised a daughter so far to have an open mind, just to have some fucking government ideal foisted on her once she gets old enough to wonder about pot. Hell, it's not even that great a drug.

Hopefully it will be moot once she hits her teens, and by then weed will be legal.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

You taught your child zombie preparedness.

You rule.

[zorbathut.livejournal.com]

My mom gave me a truthful, honest description of all the drugs she's ever done, and exactly what effect they had on her. I credit this with being one of the major things that's kept me from ever bothering - most of her stories either end with "yeah, it wasn't worth the time" or "I stopped doing it because I liked it too much."

(I'll probably try marijuana once it's finally legalized, but I expect to end up bored - my biology is just too similar to hers for me to expect anything else.)

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Well, I tried reading Fellowship of the Ring at age 7, and it WAS too dark for me. :) Nightmares for a week, didn't pick the book up again for a couple of years. So, mileage may vary.

[elfstar18.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering when/whether this would make anyone either in the legalize marijuana camp or the regular media point out the damage that this does to the notion that "winners don't do drugs".

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

No wonder they're pissed. They lost one of their best taglines.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Ladies and gentlemen, 10.0 for Eric in the Winter Hit The Nail Right On The Fucking Head event!

[chaobell]

My experience led me to the conclusion that weed is highly overrated. I've smoked a few joints in my day and I was not terribly impressed.

It's expensive. A lot of it stinks. And it's the most frustrating altered state I have ever been in. I kept having awesome ideas for art and writing and so on, only to have them completely disappear without even the faintest remaining impression by the time I found something to write them down on. Yes, even if I kept the damn notebook and pen right next to me, because remembering that the notebook and pen were right next to me burned precious brain CPU cycles.

I don't mind if anyone else wants to do it but as far as I'm concerned, man, FUCK WEED.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, you probably only thought the ideas were good because you were stoned.

Not that it makes the experience any less frustrating at the time.

[elfstar18.livejournal.com]

I like the scent of marijuana, but I havn't liked the experience of smoking it all. That said, its illegality is ridiculous.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

I'm so boring. Aside from a tiny bit of alcohol (like, less than a glass of wine, and one bottle of cider that was mostly by accident), the only drugs I've done are caffiene, chocolate, and refined sugar. Grew up in a tobacco-smoking household and have often smelled pot; can't stand the scent of either.

[oldcurlywolf.livejournal.com]

*shrug* I hung out with people in my club daze that smoked. some were admittedly absolute idiots but then you've got the guys who built, own and run their own businesses. MJ is the only one of the illegals that I think should be legalized. If only because I've seen to many people destroyed by the rest.

[ardaniel]

Obviously, none of those people work in VFX.