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Reinstate Michael Phelps and stop driving athletes to drink!

USA Swimming suspended the 14-time Olympic gold medalist after a newspaper published a photo of him using marijuana at an off-season party.

USA Swimming was not required to punish Phelps, according to Executive Director Chuck Wielgus, but it "decided to send a strong message to Michael..." That message -- athletes must only use alcohol when they party, and they will be punished if they make the safer choice to use marijuana instead.

Use the form below to "send a strong message" to Chuck Wielgus and USA Swimming calling on them to reinstate Michael Phelps and stop driving athletes to drink.

February 09, 2010

Subject:

Dear Mr. Wielgus,

I am writing to encourage USA Swimming to reinstate Michael Phelps and stop driving athletes to drink.

Your organization's intention was to "send a strong message" to Phelps, and it has done just that. Unfortunately, however, the message is misguided and dangerous -- it suggests that he and other athletes should only use alcohol when they relax or party, and that they will be punished if they use marijuana instead.

Yet every objective study on marijuana has concluded that it is far SAFER than alcohol both to the user and to society.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that alcohol use is a contributing factor in more than 30,000 American deaths each year, including several hundred from overdoses. The CDC reports zero deaths in which marijuana is a contributing factor, and there has never been a proven case of a marijuana overdose death in history. Studies have also concluded that alcohol use contributes to aggressive behavior and violent crimes -- including assaults, domestic violence, sexual assaults and date rapes -- whereas marijuana use does not.

If alcohol contributes to so many serious problems and marijuana does not, then why in the world would USA Swimming prefer its athletes use alcohol instead of marijuana?  And why would it punish those who wish to make the rational, safer choice to use a less harmful substance than they'd otherwise use?

I hope you will take this information into consideration, reinstate Michael Phelps, and refrain from sending such  pro-alcohol, anti-marijuana messages to athletes in the future.

Sincerely,

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