Barack Obama - Illegal Drugs
Summary
President Obama has an established and admitted history of the use of marijuana. During a CNN debate, Senator Obama stated that he smoked marijuana and that he "inhaled frequently" and that "that was the point." When campaigning in Iowa, Senator Obama was again asked if he used marijuana and if he inhaled. He stated that he did indeed.
In his memoirs "Dreams from My Father," President Obama stated that he "drank heavily" and "tried drugs enthusiastically."
However, despite this early use, he has not been identified (by credible sources) as using after college and this use has not translated in to policy. In fact, drugs were not an issue in the 2008 elections and do not appear to be an issue in the 2012 elections.
Inhaling is the point
At the onset of the 2008 Presidential campaign a clip emerged with Barack Obama being asked about previous drug use, particulary Marijuana. Part of Senator Obama's response included "I inhaled frequently, that was the point". The clip below shows this response as it was aired on the Chris Mathews show.
When questioned about his marijuana use on the campaign trail, Senator Obama again stated that he did use drugs, he did inhale, and that was the point.
Dreams from my father
In his book "Dreams from my Father", Barack Obama spoke about his alcohol and drug use in high school and noted that he "drank heavily, (and) tried drugs enthusiastically."
I spent the last two years of high school in a daze, locking away the questions that life seemed insistent on imposing. I kept playing basketball, attended classed sparingly, drank beer heavily, and tried drugs enthusiastically. I discovered that it didn't make any difference if you smoked reefer in the white class mates sparkling new van, or in the dorm room with some brother you'd met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids who had dropped out of school and now spent most of their time looking for an excuse to brawl.
Nobody asked you if your father was a fat cat executive who cheated on his wife, or some laid off joe who slapped you around whenever he bothered to come home. You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. And if the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism.
Sponsored and Cosponsored Legislation
This representative has not been identified as sponsoring or cosponsoring significant legislation related to this title.