Perhaps you’ve heard by now that Olympic champion Michael Phelps was photographed holding a bong at a University of South Carolina house party last November.
 
Now, given that smoking marijuana out of competition is not considered an offense by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee cleared the world’s greatest swimmer of any infraction, it stands to reason that the case would be closed and we could all go about photoshopping Michael Phelps on a box of ‘Weedies’ with a gold medal and spliff until we wore ourselves out. Right?
 
Well, not exactly. Effective Thursday February 6, Phelps was suspended for three months by USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport – banning him from competition and cutting off financial support. According to USA Swimming:
 
“This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people.”
 
That’s right. He didn’t break any rule. His suspension is disappointment based. Phelps hit a bong, made God cry and now must suffer shame. Fine. Whatever. This is a hypocritical and cowardly move but the truth is Phelps will recover from this suspension. He’ll continue training and preparing himself to dominate in Rome this summer. So, case closed, right?
 
Um, nope. On the same day, one of Phelps’s major sponsors, Kellogg Co. decided not to renew its sponsorship contract with the 14-time gold medal champ.
 
To us, this sounds like two scoops of bullshit.
 
At best it’s a slippery slope. Without immediate public response, other companies may follow Kellogg’s example and cast off the 23-year-old Phelps simply for smoking pot. Keep in mind Phelps had been sponsored by Kellogg Co. despite being arrested for drunk driving at the age of 19.
 
If you’d like to send a message to Kellogg, please go to [link|http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/06/the-kellogg-company-drops-michael-phelp...|NORML] where you will find a variety of ways to get in touch with the company and let them know you disapprove of their actions and will be [link|http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/06/the-kellogg-company-drops-michael-phelp...|boycotting their products].