Riding under the influence CDT

In my previous post I most focused on my experiences with riding while drinking, but what about the large stereotypes of snowboarders as stoners? A big reason why people link the two together is because of the 1998 winter Olympics where a young Canadian snowboard, Ross Rebagliati was tested positive for marijuana after winning the gold medal. The judges threaten to take is medal away but finally decided that it wouldn't be necessary after his claims of only testing positive because of his friends smoking around him. Other professional athletes have been know for smoking marijuana, one example being Michael Phelps, a gold medal Olympic swimmer who was caught smoking weed a couple for years back, Rebagliati incident has stuck around and made a stereotype of snowboards as stoners. In general snowboards are typically seen as more relaxed easy going people, at least from my perspective, so is that why people label them as stoners? I have grown up in a snowboarding world, so it is often hard for me to see what others may be able to see without my bias opinion.

The way I look at it, yes some snowboarders do smoke weed but there are also other who participate in the sport that do not. I believe that statement is true for almost any sport out there skateboarding, surfing, swimming, soccer, volleyball, and baseball. The list could go on for days, but why is it that sports like snowboarding, surfing, and skateboarding are typically more labeled as marijuana smokers than others. Is it the sport itself? Is it the people who participate in the sport? Swimmers are not generally labeled as marijuana smokers because of Michael Phelps’ incident of photos being leaked to the media of him smoking marijuana. In my personally opinion I do see these sports as more laid back, freestyle types of exercise. I can see how these laid back types of sport attract that type of people. So when saying is it the sport in general or the people involved in the sport that gives them that stoner stereotype its clear to me that they go hand in hand. I think it’s a mistake to label skateboards, surfers, and snowboarders as marijuana smokers; although some may smoke marijuana the sport as a whole is not full of stoners despite the mislabeling of perhaps older generations, or others who strongly disagree with the use of cannabis