Back in 2004, Obama didn't laugh off questions about marijuana:
Mike Riggs notes that Obama "has yet to acknowledge that a massive shift in drug policy happened on the same day he was reelected":
This isn't going away. Legislators in Rhode Island and Maine–states that already have medical marijuana–are introducing legalization bills in 2013. The 2014 election will likely see more marijuana-related ballot initiatives. If a more nuanced response is in the works, Obama should not only say so, he should be the one to deliver it.
And Obama has a story to tell that's worth telling, if he wanted to:
The group — "decent students and athletes who went on to become successful and productive lawyers, writers, and businessmen" — dubbed itself the Choom Gang. A favorite hangout was a lush hideaway called Pumping Stations, where they parked their cars, turned up Blue Oyster Cult on their stereos, "lit up some 'sweet-sticky Hawaiian buds,' and washed it down with 'green bottle beer.'" Once stoned, Maraniss alleges, the gang was often seen slipping past the "keep out" signs at the gorgeous Manoa Stream and standing under a rock where water rushed overhead.
What Maraniss reveals is that Obama wasn't just a passive peer-pressure stoner; he was a hard-core pothead. He even regulated the inhalation of others by coining the term "total absorption" and was always bogarting the joint. Then there are the real origins of "leading from behind":
One of the favorite words in their subculture revealed their democratic nature. The word was veto. Whenever an idea was broached, someone could hold up his hand in the V sign (a backward peace sign of that era) and indicate that the motion wash not approved. They later shortened the process so that you could just shout "V" to get the point across. In the Choom Gang, all V's were created equal.
The Dish 