This is a YouTube video showing Barack Obama talking about his past drug use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVQt-jwIdoc This is the official Barack Obama website: http://www.barackobama.com/

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Barack Obama is certainly not the first presidential candidate to admit he inhaled marijuana, but he is the first to admit using cocaine. The Democratic senator from Illinois experimented with drugs during his high school years in Hawaii in the '70s and as a college student at Occidental College and Columbia University. He also experienced the drug war firsthand when a friend of his was busted for weed. How will this influence Obama's platform on illegal drugs?

Barack Obama Obama wrote about these experiences in his first book, Dreams from My Father, in 1995. Here's an excerpt from the book:

"I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though - Mickey, my potential initiator, had been just a little too eager for me to go through with that. Said he could do it blindfolded, but he was shaking like a faulty engine when he said it...

"Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed; the final fatal role of the would-be black man. Except the highs hadn't been about that, me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind. Something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory.

"I had discovered that it didn't make any difference whether you smoked reefer in a white classmate's sparkling new van, or in the dorm room of some brother you'd met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids... You just might 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. That's how it seemed to me then, anyway."

He then relates the story of Pablo, who didn't have "his driver's licence that day [when] a cop with nothing better to do check[ed] the trunk of his car... One day [my mother] marched into my room wanting to know the details of Pablo's arrest. I told her not to worry, I wouldn't do anything that stupid.

"'Don't you think you're being a little casual about your future?' she said. 'One of your friends just got arrested for drug possession. Your grades are slipping..."

"I didn't want to hear about this..."

When Obama starts doing town meetings, ask him ablout Pablo and whether he thinks 800,000 Americans should be arrested each year for smoking a substance he once did? This will be the true test of what kind of man Barack Obama really is.

For the record, 2008 Democratic presidential candidate and 2004 vice-president nominee John Edwards has also admitted to smoking pot.

In the Chicago Tribune, columnist Eric Zorn writes, "Five reasons why the cocaine story is good for Obama."

Barack Obama makes a point - but will he support the rights of marijuana smokers on the campaign trail?

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Barack Obama smoked marijuana and used cocaine. And?

Tomorrow's New Zealand Herald is running a story titled Obama owns up to cannabis, cocaine use as teen. Of course, this isn't new information. Celebstoner.com ran this piece in January, while Obama was already forthcoming about his past back in 1995.

Obama wrote the following in his book Dreams from My Father:

I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though - Mickey, my potential initiator, had been just a little too eager for me to go through with that. Said he could do it blindfolded, but he was shaking like a faulty engine when he said it…

Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed; the final fatal role of the would-be black man.

Although insignificant in 1995, that quote has become a lot more interesting recently as Americans have begun entertaining thoughts of a "President Obama." But will this ever be news again?

Democrats did not even consider the issue worthy of discussion when Bill Clinton admitted to smoking, but not inhaling, marijuana. And Republicans were more concerned with the betrayal behind (rather than the content of) the following transcript between President George W. Bush and Doug Wead. It was recorded in 1998 as Bush was contemplating a run for the Whitehouse.

GEORGE BUSH: (inaudible) it doesn't matter – cocaine, it'd be the same with marijuana. I wouldn't answer the marijuana question.

DOUG WEAD: Uh-hunh.

GEORGE BUSH: Do you know why? Because I don't want some little kid doin' what I tried.

DOUG WEAD: Yeah, and it never stops, the question.

GEORGE BUSH: But you gotta understand, I want to be President, I want to lead, I want to set… do you want your little kid to say hey Daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will?

So perhaps the issue is no longer an issue. And if that's the case for the President of the United States, it should also be the case for the people from whom he derives his power.

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Barack Obama - Is There Such a Thing as the Real Deal in Politics?

Written by Gwen

The phenomenon of Barack Obama has overtaken the country. Even Obama states that he is often overwhelmed by the celebrity and stardom. NPR recently reported that one of the most difficult parts of Obama's potential presidential campaign will be controlling the turnout at community events. And so, with all the hype, media and scrutiny, one has to wonder what toll publicity plays in who Barack Obama ultimately is.

I found myself first enthralled during the 2004 Democratic Convention where a young, well-spoken Obama stole the show with a hopeful tone and unvested storytelling. Then one day during channel surfing, I was glued to a CSPAN broadcast of a speech given by Barack Obama at an event celebrating women. Watching him work the room by acknowledging the contributions of individual participants in the audience as well as building a rapport with women by discussing the importance of his grandmother and mother, the moment was magic.

Mind you, teaching others how to present persuasively is part of my day job and often bleeds into my twilight hours as I critique everyone I see on television. My husband will tell you that rarely does someone get through unscathed. Barack Obama has an ability to connect in such a real way and I suspect this skill wasn't taught to him, it's just part of who he is.

As Barack Obama is about as close to entering the presidential race as possible (watch his announcement by linking here ), I've found myself asking some very Wabi-Sabi questions:

Remeber, Wabi-Sabi (an ancient Japanese philosophy) embraces the natural, worn and imperfect side as the more valuable and telling parts of a story.)

1. Can you be authentic and be a successful politician?

Even Obama concedes that there is a fine line between staying true to you and being influenced by all the issues, lobbyists and those that vote (read more in The Audacity of Hope - a heady philosophical look at his views on politics). All along I've gone from the extreme of really, really hoping that he is as good as he appears to being ready for the shoe to drop and the inevitable skeletons to come creeping out of the closet. My skeptic side continues to believe that Barack Obama can't be the real deal and be successful in politics (one is mutually exclusive from the other). At some point, like the Godfather movie with Michael Corleone, he'll be sucked into the mire.

Obama talks about "different politics" and this is where I nervously wait to see what happens. The last guy to try this angle was John McCain with his Straight Talk Express and maverick approach. He was squashed by the political machine. To be different from the norm means standing out and potentially being attacked for it.

Barack Obama is somewhat accustomed to this visibility but still needs to prove what different feels, looks and is like to everyday people. Can his rhetoric and conviction get him there? Like rooting for Rocky, I have an emotional connection that seems foreign to me but I want this candidate to prove that you can be authentic and win. Yo Adrian!

2. Can we let Barack Obama be imperfect?

There's a strange set-up here. First, we say that we want a politician to be more authentic and genuine. Lose the spin and smarminess. Then, we say - okay be perfect while being authentic. Always make the right choice. Always vote the way that I want. Always nail a speech. Always perform to my standards.

We've placed politicians in their own Catch 22 situation. Be genuine (which means flaws and all) but also live on the pedestal of unrealistic expectations. For someone like Barack Obama, he's thrust into the position of being a national savior, African American hero, new life for Democrats and a bridge between parties. Can he possibly live up to all of the ideals and requisites that we are placing before him? No way, Jose.

So, knowing that at some point he will "fail" and will be "imperfect", can we value this as part of his authentic self? Or, will we verbally flog him and denounce him and hurl our long-distance wails his way? Now the onus is on us to let go a bit and see instead how Obama deals with the difficult situations and expectations. Failure and imperfection are the perfect moment to see the stuff one is truly made up of.

May we all be ready to embrace the authentic people in our lives and allow them the freedom to be imperfect every once in a while.

Imperfectly yours, Gwen

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http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2007/01/five_rea sons_wh.html

Originally posted: January 9, 2007 Five reasons why the cocaine story is good for Obama

Five reasons why it was good news for Sen. Barack Obama last week when the Washington Post published a front-page story about his use of cocaine when he was a teenager.

1. It was already old news about even older news.

In Obama's 1996 autobiography, he wrote of having used "a little blow" during an unhappy phase of his high school years. This disclosure was widely reported here during his 2004 run for the U.S. Senate.

So now, assuming Obama decides to run for president, by the time the first meaningful votes are cast in the 2008 primary season -- just over a year from now in the Iowa caucuses -- it will be ancient history.

2. The inevitable debate about youthful indiscretions and full disclosure can take place outside the heat of the campaign.

The famous kerfuffle when then-candidate Bill Clinton said that he'd tried marijuana but didn't inhale began on March 29, 1992 - nearly 15 months later in the election cycle than this story has hit the national media.

News about the 1976 drunk driving arrest of then-candidate George W. Bush broke just four days before the election of 2000.

3. The debate is already settled.

Look no further than President Bush, a recovering alcoholic who, when asked about illegal substance use in a misbegotten past that extended well into his 30s, would say no more than, "When I was young and irresponsible I was young and irresponsible."

By now, voters know and have accepted that whoever succeeds Bush in the White House will also have fallen short of perfection from time to time. And that being able to overcome one's troubles, failings and detours is better than pretending not to have had any.

The cocaine story allows Obama to strengthen his image as a "different" kind of politician -- -- not a slick dissembler who tells you what he thinks you want to hear, but one who shoots straight and `fesses up when he messes up.

4. The story has contributed to the bilious right-wing overreaction to Obama that will ultimately attract interest and support from moderates.

"Well, Barack Hussein Obama...now us law-abiding Americans can see the real you," wrote "Paulo," a commenter at The Swamp, the Tribune's Washington-based political blog. "Put this question in your mind: Do the American people want an admitted illegal-drug user with a Muslim father to be their next president? I think not."

Hmm. Put this question in your mind: Would the Republican naysayers be so pre-maturely, pre-emptively vehement about a Democrat they genuinely perceived as weak and unelectable? I think not.

They'd be quietly licking their metaphorical chops for the day the Democrats nominate him and they can tear him apart.

"Paulo" isn't the only one in a telling tizzy these days. Conservative pundit Debbie Schlussel received considerable attention last month for her online essay, "Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim." In it, she pouted that Obama "may think he's a Christian," but his African father's heritage tells us his loyalties are divided at best.

Fair-minded people are likely to be disgusted by this kind of baseless innuendo and character assassination.

It's one thing to go after candidates for who they are. That's fair. But it's quite another to go after who they were 30 years ago and still another to go after them for who their parents were. Beyond that, it's infantile and obscene to attack a candidate - or anyone ---

for his name.

What better way to repudiate such nonsense than to support its victim?

5. It's a gut-check right when he needs one.

By setting up Obama as the epitome of candor, the cocaine story leaves him almost no wiggle room for surprise revelations and other eruptions from the past that might occur during the next, brutal year to year and half on the campaign trail if he chooses to run.

The "same old" politician can bob and weave and sometimes slither through. We don't expect much better. But the "different" politician has to meet a much higher standard.

Either way, it's better to know that now.

CLICK POLL RESULT: Would you hold it against a political candidate if you learned that he or she used cocaine in high school?

15.5% Yes (573 responses)

84.5% No (3123 responses)

3696 total responses (Poll results not scientific)

Excerpt:

Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though—--Micky, my potential initiator, had been just a little too eager for me to go through with that. Said he could do it blindfolded, but he was shaking like a faulty engine when he said it…. Junkie Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: The final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. Except the high hadn't been about that, me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory.....from "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama, p. 93

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201359.html

Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen Senator Admitted Trying Cocaine in a Memoir Written 11 Years Ago

By Lois Romano Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 3, 2007; Page A01

Long before the national media spotlight began to shine on every twist and turn of his life's journey, Barack Obama had this to say about himself: "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind."

The Democratic senator from Illinois and likely presidential candidate offered the confession in a memoir written 11 years ago, not long after he graduated from law school and well before he contemplated life on the national stage. At the time, 20,000 copies were printed and the book seemed destined for the remainders stacks.

Today, Obama, 45, is near the top of polls on potential Democratic presidential contenders, and "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" has regularly been on the bestseller lists, with 800,000 copies in print. Taken along with his latest bestseller, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Obama has become a genuine publishing phenomenon.

Obama's revelations were not an issue during his Senate campaign two years ago. But now his open narrative of early, bad choices, including drug use starting in high school and ending in college, as well as his tortured search for racial identity, are sure to receive new scrutiny.

As a potential candidate, Obama has presented himself as a fresh voice offering a politics of hope. Many say he offers something new in American politics: an African American with a less-than-traditional name who has so far demonstrated broad appeal. What remains to be seen is whether the candor he offered in his early memoir will be greeted with a new-style acceptance by voters.

It was not so long ago that such blunt admissions would have led to a candidate's undoing, and there is uneasiness in Democratic circles that "Dreams From My Father" will provide a blueprint for negative attacks.

Two decades ago, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was forced to withdraw as a nominee for the Supreme Court after reports surfaced that he had used marijuana while he was a law professor. As a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton thought marijuana use could be enough of a liability in 1992 that he felt compelled to say he had not inhaled. And President Bush has managed to deflect endless gossip about his past by acknowledging that he had an "irresponsible" youth but offering no details.

Through his book, Obama has become the first potential presidential contender to admit trying cocaine.

"I believe what the country is looking for is someone who is open, honest and candid about themselves rather than someone who seems endlessly driven by polls or focus groups," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman. Gibbs said yesterday that Obama was not available for an interview.

Presidential aspirants tend to write more sanitized books for use as campaign tools. "Faith of My Fathers" by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) depicts his family's history of military service. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has reissued "It Takes a Village," which offers her views about child-rearing in contemporary society. In fact, Obama's latest book, "Audacity of Hope," lays out his policy positions.

But "Dreams From My Father" is not like that. Obama wrote the highly personal book when he was in his early 30s, after being approached by a publisher when he became the first black person elected editor of the Harvard Law Review.

"This is not the kind of book you would ever expect a politician to write," said GOP consultant Alex Vogel. "Anyone who has a career in politics has to be concerned with what's in their past, but there is no question that Americans have an appetite for redemption."

In fact, Bush himself has been a beneficiary of those sympathies. He has suffered little criticism from his conservative base after acknowledging that he drank too much in the past and is now a teetotaler.

Obama's partisan opponents and experts said it is too early to know whether the admissions will be a liability because the public seems to be enthusiastically embracing his openness at this point. What's more, they note that it is better for a politician to disclose his own transgressions, rather than be put on the defensive by revelations.

A senior Republican strategist who will be advising a GOP presidential candidate in 2008 said he did not see anything in the book that would be a "disqualifier," but he cautioned that Obama has not yet gone through an intense vetting process and that a problem could arise if there is more to his story than he has chosen to share. The strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also suggested that there will be high tolerance for marijuana use among voters because many baby boomers probably tried the drug in the '60s.

"Who's going to cast that first stone?" asked Anita Dunn, a veteran Democratic political consultant, who has advised Obama's political committee.

Rhodes Cook, a independent political analyst, said that Democratic primary voters, who are typically more liberal, would be more understanding of his drug use -- "and if he makes it to a general election, it will be old news."

Obama's supporters said his admissions in the book could work to his advantage.

"I think it will be received as refreshing," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Obama's fellow Democrat from Illinois. "If you compare similar books, many of us in the political business tend to have selective memories."

Obama writes extensively about his struggle to come to terms with being a black man whose African father returned to Kenya when he was 2, leaving him to be raised by his white Kansas-born mother and grandparents in Hawaii. He describes an identity crisis arising from his realization that his life was shaped by both a loving white family and a world that saw in him the negative stereotypes frequently ascribed to young black men. He recounts a search of self that took him from high school in Hawaii to Columbia University, and then to the streets of Chicago as a community organizer.

"We were always playing on the white man's court . . . by the white man's rules," he writes. "If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher . . . wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had the power and you didn't. . . . The only thing you could choose was withdrawal into a smaller and smaller coil of rage.

"And the final irony: should you refuse this defeat and lash out at your captors . . . they would have a name for that too. Paranoid. Militant."

Obama has not expressed any regrets for his candor. In a preface to the new edition, he says that he would tell the same story today "even if certain passages have proven to be inconvenient politically."

In the book, Obama acknowledges that he used cocaine as a high school student but rejected heroin. "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though," he says.

In an interview during his Senate race two years ago, Obama said he admitted using drugs because he thought it was important for "young people who are already in circumstances that are far more difficult than mine to know that you can make mistakes and still recover.

"I think that, at this stage, my life is an open book, literally and figuratively," he said. "Voters can make a judgment as to whether dumb things that I did when I was a teenager are relevant to the work that I've done since that time."