U.S. Snowboarders Busted for Pot in New Zealand
By Rocky Thompson on August 4th, 2009
It sounds like Danny Kass and Louie Vito have been arrested with “not an insignificant amount” of marijuana in their vehicle while driving around near Wanaka, New Zealand. Police stopped the duo of Olympic snowboarders at a random roadside breath test and took them to jail when they found the pot. Kass is a two-time silver medalist and the 21-year-old Vito is hoping to make it to the Olympics in Vancouver this year. I’m sure there’s some kind of Olympic drug rule that bans this type of behavior, which is real shame. If they’d been arrested for driving under the influence at this roadside breath test, they’d be back on the street without a worry of getting booted from the Olympic team. Instead their spots representing the U.S. could be gone for carrying a drug that’s legal in some parts of the world and decriminalized in several U.S. states.
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Snowboarders using pot…I’m shocked! Who would have guessed?
In an era where professional athletes kill dogs and people, beat their spouses, juice up with ‘roids to win and still get to play, these guys should get a medal for good behavior. Half the NBA admits to smoking pot and the other half lies about it.
So what if it’s legal in some countries. So what if it’s decriminalized in several US states. We aren’t talking about those countries and we aren’t talking about the US. It’s their country and it’s their laws. We expect people to obey our laws when they visit the US. We should obey their laws when we go there. The athletes deserve what they get.
Jeff I don’t think Rocky was challenging the New Zealand authority to arrest them, but perhaps was anticipating a fallout like the Michael Phelps debacle and comemnting on the disparity found in sports organizations’ reponses to different criminal infractions. Or maybe Rocky just loves the sweet cheeba. Sampson gets me LIFTED!
Latest update from the NZ newspaper:
“Both men, aged in their 20s, who told police they were in New Zealand as tourists, were due to appear in Queenstown District Court today. But a police spokeswoman told NZPA the pair had been given police diversion and so didn’t appear in court today. If diversion is completed satisfactorily the pair will avoid having convictions to their name. They were granted name suppression.
Police Diversion may include a lecture, community service, or attending classes. Can you imagine Danny or Louie doing either of these… sober?
From their tweet action, it looks like this agreement was reached on/about August 4 when Louie and Danny’s tweets kickstarted again. Also, it’s very possible that Danny (the van owner and driver) was the only one who faced jail or fines.
- Olympic Proportions