Pot smokers held their collective breath like Michael Phelps does underwater as they watched the toking swimmer's pool-side chat with Today's Matt Lauer on Mar. 13. Would Phelps come clean and embrace the herb he so willingly inhaled last November? Not a chance.

No matter how much we want Phelps to be the poster boy for pot, he keeps passing on that opportunity, calling his actions "a stupid mistake" and "bad judgement." He continues to apologize for adult behavior as if he was forced to suck down that bong hit.

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Phelps is 23 years old. When he was 19, the Olympic swimmer was arrested for DUI. "I'll be the first one to admit I've made a lot of mistakes in my life," he told Lauer, adding with emphasis, "I've never made the same mistake twice."

We're supposed to believe this was the one and only time Phelps' mighty lungs absorbed marijuana smoke? Or that he hasn't puffed since the infamous bong pic was snapped with a sneaky cell-phone camera?

"We were celebrating, honestly," he said about the pot party in question. "It was a small group and we were sitting around celebrating."

Mistakenly celebrating, Phelps has since decided. His repeated mea culpas have given ammunition to pundits like Bill Maher, who's called him a "wimp" and "pussy" for not fessing up in favor of the illegal weed.

Though the Phelps photo has been a boon for this and other marijuana-oriented sites, we too have been disappointed by his constant lack of candor. Nothing changed on Today, and will not likely tomorrow, as long as Phelps shills for companies who pay him huge amounts of money.

"For me, I feel my duty is to try to help other people not make this mistake," he said in his most glaring admission of remorse.

Will Phelps be the face of the White House's next campaign about the evils of marijuana? Probably not. But by taking the middle of the road, he's done both sides of the issue a disservice.

Blog by Steve Bloom

Also see:

Michael Phelps: Hits from the Bong

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