South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

WIS10 reported today that Sheriff Leon Lott has arrested eight people in connection with Michael Phelp's now famous bong hit in Columbia, S.C.:

We've now learned that since investigators began trying to build a case, they've made eight arrests: seven for drug possession and one for distribution. These are arrests that resulted as the sheriff's department served search warrants.

We've also learned that the department has located and confiscated that bong.

Sources say the owner of the bong was trying to sell it on eBay for as much as $100,000.

The owner, who wasn't even at the party, is one of the eight now charged.

Apparently, everyone wants to know why is Sheriff Lott going after Phelps, why isn't he focusing on more important crime? What the hell - he loves the publicity. What could be more important than re-election? A photograph of Michael Phelps smoking weed in Columbia, S.C. was like a gift from God on Lott's doorstep. People can call him an idiot all they want, he has made national news and he is happy as he can be.

Everyone is debating whether Lott can even do anything - simple possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia are misdemeanors punishable by 30 days and a 500$ fine, respectively. Apparently, Lott could not force Phelps to come back and face charges if he wanted to, because a crime must carry at least one year as a potential sentence for extradition to South Carolina. If Phelps did come back, the glaring question is how will they prove possession when they don't have any marijuana in the first place? Technically, they could go forward with a prosecution without any physical evidence (although this is debatable), but for practical purposes that prosecution is dead in the water.

Norm Kent, at NORML.org, has his own analysis of Lott's legal problems in going forward with a case against Phelps, and concludes:

In essence, I suspect that very soon the Sheriff will publish a statement that after ‘due diligence,’ his ‘investigation’ revealed an insufficient basis upon which to proceed.

And maybe the next time Mr. Phelps gets caught with marijuana he will stand up and courageously say: “It’s normal to smoke pot. I am an Olympic gold medal winning athlete and it has not impaired me one bit.”

If he does, I will invite Michael to join the NORML advisory board. I will even buy him his own bong.

One thing that this fiasco has done is to once again bring the ridiculousness of marijuana prohibition to national attention. According to TheState.com:

The executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said arresting Phelps - an unlikely scenario - would make the swimmer a symbol for the need to change laws governing the drug. "It may bring short-term pain and embarrassment, but for Michael, this will instantaneously make him a national and, because of his Olympic status, an international poster child to finally reform these laws," said Allen St. Pierre, who promised the sheriff a NORML T-shirt and lifetime membership if he arrests Phelps.