"I made bad choices," Pres. Obama said yesterday. "I got high." And he also became the President of the United States. So then, how exactly did getting high harm his growth and development?
In the speech to promote his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative to help boys and men of color, Obama explained:
"I didn't have a dad in the house. I was angry about even it though I didn't necessarily realize it at the time. I made bad choices. I got high, without always thinking about the harm that it could do. I didn't always take school as seriously as I should have. I made excuses. Sometimes I sold myself short… I grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. So when I made a mistake the consequences were not as severe."
Well, first of all, the consequences were not as severe because he never was arrested for possessing marijuana or cocaine during his teen years growing up in Hawaii. Had he been busted for pot or coke, Obama's options might have been diminshed. Of course, we'll never know.
What we do know is the future President "inhaled frequently" because "that was the point," he quipped during his 2008 campaign, making a joke of Bill Clinton's pot-use denial.
In front of a group of minors and a crowd of parents, Obama can't be expected to to cavalierly discuss his own drug use when he was a teenager. It would be perceived as irresponsible if he said anything other than what he did. But this is just a presidential smokescreen.
It's a shame that Obama can't look look back at his youthful experimentation as somehow beneficial. It informed and perhaps changed his life. So rather than calling it "bad choices" and a "bad habit," as he recently said, Obama could state that he had good times on pot, but he doesn't recommend it for anyone other than adults, especially because boys and men of color are more likely to get arrested. That makes sense. That would be a fair representation of his views. And it wouldn't paint him as hypocrite.
Who's side is Obama on anyway? The drug warriors or the drug reformers? He can't seem to make up his mind. Well, he should and fast, because the whole world is watching.
