Not really. I'm old enough to understand that most idols have feet of clay.

Not at all. He is a young guy still learning about life. He should be able to experience what he wants even if it is illegal. It's too bad some asshole with a camera phone captured an opportunity to cash in on it. That person needs a good bitch slap.

Not a thing. This guy has done some pretty amazing things. Pot is not a performance enhancing drug. The perception that is enforced here is the petty,selfish, act of trying to make a buck by belittling someone and any one who supported or helped take action in doing so. Phelps has not personally slighted anyone, but he did stand up and become a patriotic hero and this is how some-people would repay him. It is a sick representation of american society.

Nah!

A lot of Olympic Athletes have spent most of their life in training in their sport so they didnt have time or ability to learn by experimentation experience how to deal with other light &/or dark things in life on their own rather than by being kept from that during their growing years by coaches &/or parents etc . This is actually just another form of Living a very sheltered life which leaves a person open to victimization by people w/ less than moral intentions who are eventually run into by everyone on this planet but for each person it may occur at different times in their lives. It appears to me that Phelps is a victim of streetwise drug using people attracted around him by his own popularity.I.e when you hang with a crowd whether its a good or bad crowd the tendency is to become like the people in that crowd i.e to take on their charateristics negative or positive. It was well documented about Phelps newly found addiction to junk food advertised by the media even before he left the Olympics in China.He experienced for the 1st time in his life a great freedom now that his training was over for the longest period of time perhaps than ever before in his life. The way he jumped off & handled his jump into junk food so fully and completely perhaps should have been an early warning of problems to come. However, Phelps is definitely learning. Some people just have to learn the hard way or perhaps all of us at different times in our lives than others have to learn the hard way sometimes.

Yes, it did. I know his parents are disappointed too. I have a daughter who swims and this is the first time one of her heroes has "let her down". She's more angry than I would like to see.

I have lost respect.

No butI have lost alot of respect for Americans.

Not at all. If the man likes to blaze up once in a while to relax that's his business. He's still a great athlete either way.

It explained why he eats so much =P

I like him more. Makes it alright that he slurs his words so much.

I never liked the guy in the first place, so the pics of him smoking weed didn't change anything..people forget he's just a man, not a god. I don't know why we think or expect people who do one great thing are going to be perfect people all around inside and out..history has shown us some very gifted people may have one talent but can be total jerks, thieves, liars, cheaters, killers, or anything else..they are not gods or superheroes, they are just normal men and women who happened to train to be good at one thing. So he wanted to smoke weed, he should have known better being in the position he is in that his every action and choice are scrutinized and judged...when he became famous he lost his right to privacy, and he is supposed to be a role model for the youth and the world. What he did was illegal so yeah he should have his sponsors pulled and deal with the consequences anyone else would have to deal with. but do I hate him more for what he did? no...again, he's just a man and men make mistakes. I don't even really have a problem with weed, but it IS illegal and he admitted to doing it and that means he is guilty of the crime.

Not at all. We all make mistakes, especially when we are young. I made the mistake of smoking dope when I was young too, a lot of it. I wisened up, realizing how stupid it was, and I'm sure he will too.

no.if it is anyones fault it is this societies.we put people up these pedastools and when they get above human status,we start chopping them down as fast as we put them up.he is just a kid who is growing up and learning about llife.it is not his fault we made him a so-called hero.

Not at all. I don't buy into the Schadenfreude mentality. It doesn't make me feel better about myself to know that he is a human being with failings like everyone else. Nor would I find any joy in a bigoted society tearing him down. I am complete anti-drug, but what he does when he isn't in the lane of that pool, is his business.

no. people need to get over it just like ricky williams too. these arent performance enhancing drugs. if anything they are holdin them back. yeah its illegal but so is speeding. do they put every athlete who speeds in the news. your more likely to hurt yourself and other innocent people speeding then you are tokin a bong

Yes. He broke the law. So in addition to being a brilliant/talented/accomplished athlete, he is a lawbreaker. Happy Monday! :)

No. It's none of my business what someone does as long as it's not hurting anyone....and his smoking pot is not. If he is hurting himself by doing it, that's his business too. The kid won 8 gold medals, for cryin' out loud, give him a break already.

i feel like he did great to be high

Nope. Although I would have liked him more if he didn't apologize for it. People need to get used to pot, it's never going to go away. It's a blessing