A year and a half ago when I failed to pay a speeding ticket that would end up costing $900 in legal fees, I sat my dad down to tell him that if I didn’t deal with this, a warrant would be issued for my arrest.  Upon telling him, he said, “Thank God.  For a minute there I thought you got caught smoking pot or something.” Pot has an unequaled stigma attached to it, and  Phelps getting caught smoking in South Carolina gives us an timely look into the the current state of how society views pot.

Athletes getting caught with pot is nothing new.  If an athlete smokes pot in high school or college, they’re bound to continue smoking when they can easily afford all the Chronic they want.  But Phelps getting caught goes against the conventional wisdom of dealing with celebrities who enjoy the occasional hit.

When big name celebrities get caught with pot they’re usually basketball or football stars with a pseudo-”ghetto” image that makes a pot charge seem like, “Well, they caught him.”  Few basketball or football players represent more than being really good at their sport, and their image often results in a disconnect from mainstream society.

Phelps is an entirely different image.  When China said “We will earn more medals than you,” Phelps turned out a perfect Olympics and eight medals of his own. He’s not just a sports hero, he’s an olympic hero, and olympians represent their country’s entire society.

You can tell that the reaction was, “We’re going to have to deal with this one a little differently.  This is Michael Phelps we’re talking about here.”  Phelps is an icon that resonates across social and demographic boundaries–boundaries that divide those who view pot as a civil liberty from those who view pot as the manifestation of failure in American youth.

He’s a figure people–even those staunchly against pot–don’t really want to see fall.  He turned out the greatest olympic performance in the history of the world, and he did it for our country.

Phelps has lived in Ann Arbor, MI for the past few years as he trained for the Olympics.  Ann Arbor is know for its pot, and is an important route from Detroit to Chicago for distributors to supply quality grow to rich suburban kids in places with stricter growing laws.  It is not hard to get pot in Ann Arbor, and it is known to be of good quality.  Ann Arbor’s laws for pot, moreover, are comparatively lax to those in other towns.  Hash Bash is held in Ann Arbor for a reason.

Phelps smokes pot.  So what?  So do a lot of other people.  People are going to make a big deal about this because Phelps is a bona fide celebrity.  He’s not just any kind of celebrity, however, he’s an olympic celebrity, and olympians represent entire countries on the international stage.

A heavy prosecution of Phelps will, metaphorically, be a prosecution of American greatness.  Nobody is better than Michael Phelps, and he smokes pot.  This is different than seeking the maximum penalties against Michael Vick for dog fighting.  Vick didn’t really stand for anything other than being really, really good at football.  Michael Phelps stands for America.

As for society?  Well obviously people aren’t ready for pot to be legalized–either federally or socially.  But if Captain America smokes pot, at least people can’t say that marijuana represents failure.  Does it represent eight olympic golds?  That will be for a series of judges and committees to decide.