Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Pot activists rip Kellogg Co. for dropping Phelps

David Crary, AP National Writer

Bursting with indignation, legions of legalize-marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe.

The leader of one of the biggest groups, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg's action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he'd never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.

"Kellogg's had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone," said Rob Kampia, the group's executive director. "To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that's safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people."

Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance. They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg to vent their views.

In one sign of the campaign's impact, the Phelps saga took precedence over the tainted peanut butter outbreak in the recorded reply on Kellogg's consumer hot line Tuesday.

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"It's not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other twenty-somethings do," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "It's that he did what over one hundred million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court."

Similar commentary sounded even in mainstream media — including columns in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online questioning the rationale and effectiveness of U.S. marijuana laws.

Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief active in the push for easing marijuana laws, released a letter to Kellogg in which he pleaded for "sane, sensible, and compassionate drug policies" and suggested the company had "underestimated the country's maturity on this issue."

He also said he had purchased his last box of what had been his favorite cereal — Kellogg's Mueslix.

and so on...

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