Question of the day: About Michael Phelps ...

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Question: Did Michael Phelps’ five gold medals at the world swimming championships successfully rehabilitate his image after the marijuana pipe incident?

Here’s Times’ columnist Kurt Streeter’s take:

‘I never thought his reputation was all that tarnished to begin with, certainly not in a way that can’t largely be repaired. Phelps was caught smoking marijuana, and our society just doesn’t view smoking pot the way it views, say, steroids. Filling the lungs with smoke hardly enhances swimming performance. And way more people smoke marijuana than use steroids. Still, he broke the law. Marijuana is a banned substance in international sport. We have a way to judge him. So long as he doesn’t test dirty after Rome, given the benign way marijuana is viewed, most sports fans will be very willing to move on.’

Do you have an opinion? We’d like your comments.

-- Mike Hiserman