The week after Lott's deputies, looking for evidence to incriminate Phelps, raided two houses and charged seven people with marijuana possession, newspapers reported that Obama had chosen Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Kerlikowske is known for decidedly milder treatment of pot smokers than the hard-line sheriff, who said investigating Phelps was necessary to avoid "sending a message of tolerance."

Norm Stamper, who preceded Kerlikowske as Seattle's police chief and now promotes drug policy reform as a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said the "one thing I know for sure" about Kerlikowske is that "if Michael Phelps had bent over that bong in Seattle and not in Sheriff Leon Lott's Richland County he'd have nothing to fear but a foolish and fickle cereal maker" (a reference to the widely criticized decision by Kellogg's to drop its endorsement deal with Phelps). Although Kerlikowske's personal views on drug policy are unknown, he has helped implement state and local reforms such as allowing medical use of marijuana and making pot possession Seattle's "lowest law enforcement priority."

Among other things, the latter policy means police can patrol Seattle's annual Hempfest, where the scent of burning cannabis is conspicuous, without arresting every other person. It is hard to imagine Lott exercising similar restraint.

If you're glad that police arrested a record 873,000 Americans on marijuana charges in 2007 (the vast majority of them for simple possession), you can thank zero-tolerance zealots like Lott. The sheriff said he felt compelled to investigate Phelps, which involved busting seven people directly or indirectly linked to the party he attended, to show that "even with his star status, he is still obligated to obey the laws of our state." In the end, though, this case worked out the way drug cases usually do: The big shot got off, and the little guys got shafted.