Waiting To Inhale: Udonis Haslem Made a Mistake, But No Need To Vilify

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Why are people such hypocrites? Why must they look for any little thing to try and tarnish a person's image?

Seems that Udonis Haslem who has been a role model citizen in the public spotlight for over 11 years now is being labeled as a pot smoker.

Seriously this is an egregious error on the part of many. For starters no one has ever caught Haslem actually smoking anything. Thus to state that he is a weed smoker or pot head would be a big mistake.

Actually it's every bit as much a mistake as say letting someone get into your car if they are concealing an illegal substance.

Haslem should have known better. He should have taken into account that he could get pulled over with someone that could jeopardize his career.

This is not to say that any of this will happen. The NBA has very relaxed rules in terms of marijuana.

What it can do however is tarnish an image which Haslem has worked hard to carve out. that of being a selfless, hardworking athlete that rose from a poor upbringing in route to earning a college scholarship and subsequently millions as an NBA player in his hometown.

Haslem grew up in a tough Miami neighborhood. It is a common occurrence for people being raised on those streets to never achieve their true potential in life. Often they succumb to the peer pressure around them and allow their lives to fall into an abyss of drugs and crime.

These are things Haslem avoided through out his formative years. He is not some repeat offender and certainly hasn't been in trouble with the law.

Haslem knows all too well what a negative effect drugs can have on ones life. His mother battled substance abuse problems and didn't properly care for Haslem as a result. Despite this he made amends with his mother when she cleaned up and wanted to get back into her sons life.

This leads to another point. Haslem's mother died two weeks back (after losing her battle with cancer) and if that alone wasn't hard enough now he has to deal with this as well.

On the subject of marijuana, I know it's considered faux pas in this country but it's time to get the record straight. Marijuana is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Granted it could serve as a gateway drug, but in itself weed is less dangerous than say alcohol.

When smoking marijuana one doesn't feel the need to get violent. Women don't tend to get raped as a result of pot. People don't endanger the lives of others as much by driving under the influence of it as opposed to alcohol.

I'd rather have a world of people smoking pot instead of being obnoxious drunks.

Truth be told the only reason marijuana has not been decriminalized or taxed/sold by the government is because of all the tobacco lobbyists who have vested interests in not seeing it legalized.

Hell our president smoked it and he turned out alright.

In either case before people go branding Haslem in some negative way take into consideration that he has been a role model citizen his entire career. Sometimes old friends/acquaintances can get you into a predicament which you don't deserve to be in.

All UD can do now is learn from this mistake and not let it happen again.

He hasn't even been formally charged with anything yet and might not be at all.

Eric Schwartzreich (Haslem's lawyer) released a statement saying "We are confident Udonis Haslem will be vindicated. We have a situation where the passenger admits the marijuana was his and Mr. Haslem tells police nothing was in the vehicle."

This isn't the same as say Kobe Bryant's, JaMarcus Russell's or Ben Roethlisbergers accused transgressions.

Haslem has been through more than enough trials and tribulations in his life to let this truly hurt or affect him.

Like a mythological Phoenix, Haslem rose from the ashes of his upbringing in order to soar. This will in no way deter him from continuing on his journey through life. All it really serves as is a story for hypocrites to opine on.