“I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” Obama said.
Mid 1970s: The Choom Gang Years
Growing up in Hawaii, Barack Obama belonged to a group of friends who were known as the "Choom Gang." Choom is a verb which means “to smoke marijuana.” According to David Maraniss’ book Barack Obama: The Story, the young Obama popularized a smoking trend known as “TA” (short for “total absorption") and “roof hits,” where the group would smoke with all the car windows rolled up to not let any smoke escape. Obama was also known to cut into other people's turn when a joint was being passed around and yelling "interception."
Via google.com
2004: "I think the War on Drugs has been an utter failure.... but I'm not somebody who believes in the legalization of marijuana."
Speaking to students at Northwestern University when running for Senate in 2004, then-State Senator Obama said: "I think the War on Drugs has been an utter failure. I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws. But I'm not somebody who believes in the legalization of marijuana. I do believe we need to rethink how we're operating in the drug wars – we're not doing a good job."
2006: "I inhaled frequently...that was the point."
At a event for magazine editors in 2006, the then-Senator drew a contrast between him and his future presidential primary rival Hillary Clinton by admitting he inhaled frequently as a kid.
2007: "My attitude is if the science and doctors suggest that the best palliative care, the best way to relief pain and suffering is through medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to..."
Speaking in Iowa in 2007, Obama said he would support medical marijuana if doctor's suggested it was the best care, but had concerns about folks growing their own calling it a "slippery slope."
“My attitude is if the science and doctors suggest that the best palliative care, the best way to relief pain and suffering is through medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to and because there’s no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain. But I want to do it under strict guidelines. I want to make sure that it is prescribed in the same way that pain killer or other palliative drugs would be prescribed. I'm concerned about folks just kinda growing their own and saying it's for medical purposes because that's kind of a slippery slope their."
