Would Michael Phelps Been Better Off Doing a Hard Drug?

As everybody knows by now, Michael Phelps is in deep water—pun intended—because of a picture of him smoking marijuana from a bong.  

He is losing endorsements and being ban from the Swimmers Association.  But does he deserve to be in this much trouble?

If you look back on past drug users, you will see that all too often, it is the people that are doing hard drugs that are let off the easiest.  

Let's look at Kate Moss first.  Kate Moss struggled with addiction to cocaine.  When it came out that she had a problem, what happened?  

She got a lot of media attention and went into rehab.  She came out of rehab with her career still in tack.  Now she is still doing what she loves, and hopefully is past those dark days.

Another example I can think of is Rush Limbaugh.  He had an addiction to Vicodin.  He admitted he had a problem—and that is often the first step.  He got the treatment he needed.  When he came out, he still had his show and credibility with his listeners.

Now let's get to Michael Phelps.  

He smoked a bong with some so-called "friends."  Marijuana.  The softest drug next to Tylenol.  

There is hardly one upon us that can say we haven't tried it at least one time in our life. There is no scientifically-proven addiction to it.  It is illegal, yes, but dangerous...only if you consider a case of munchies and cotton-mouth a danger.  

So should he be shunned as much as he is?

Michael Phelps, in my opinion, should have came out and denounced the act, said it was a mistake and that part of his life is over.  That should have been the end of it.  

We often go far too hard on the person that is doing the least-dangerous of crimes to prove an "example."  

Perhaps if he was doing Coke or Vicodin, things would have been better for him.  He would be in rehab getting help, and later have a  Dateline special on his struggle with dependency.  

Later, he would get a article in Time magazine called "My Struggle and How I Overcame Addiction."  Yes, things would have been a lot better had THAT been the road he chosen.

Instead, Michael Phelps will go down as the pothead that lost everything.  Is this right, that we shun him for his bad decision?  

How would you feel if you lost everything over a mistake that you made that harmed nobody and put nobody in danger?  

As I said, Michael Phelps should have denounced the deed, maybe did an anti-drug campaign and toured a few high schools, and came out of this a better person.  

Instead, we are forcing him to be perceived as a "bad guy" and he is losing everything that he worked so hard to achieve.

If you ask me, there is something wrong with this picture.