Barack Obama Punishes People for Getting High; It Used to Be, He Punished Them for Not Getting High Enough

As Nick Gillespie noted below, President Barack Obama was a serious pot smoker in his younger days back when it was legal. We know more about this golden age of abandon thanks to David Maraniss' new book, Barack Obama: The Story. BuzzFeed has put together a list of a young Obama's pot techniques and habits. Perhaps the most striking, considering Obama's current role as chief drug warrior? He used to punish people for not getting high enough: 

When you were with Barry and his pals, if you exhaled precious pakalolo (Hawaiian slang for marijuana, meaning "numbing tobacco") instead of absorbing it fully into your lungs, you were assessed a penalty and your turn was skipped the next time the joint came around. "Wasting good bud smoke was not tolerated," explained one member of the Choom Gang, Tom Topolinski, the Chinese-looking kid with a Polish name who answered to Topo.

 Read all the pot excerpts from Maraniss' book here. 

Comments

[Whiterun Guard]

And look how he turned out. It is any wonder he wants to stop other people from using?

[Mint Berry Crunch]

As long as the punishment didn't involve forced hair cutting, he's still got my vote!

[Paul.]

Under Barry Oh, we're all going to "take a haircut".

[Paul.]

Tom Topolinski, the Chinese-looking kid with a Polish name who answered to Topo.

Now there's some identity politics for ya. Someone call Robert Siegel!

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

I perceive microaggression in your post. Stop it.

[creech]

Book'em, Danno.

[John]

I think a childhood of living with my rich grand parents driving around Hawaii stoned out of my mind sounds pretty good. I have to admit, I really jealous.

[Mike M.]

Good point. It does sound like being a third generation communist in the 70s wasn't a bad life at all.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I think I may have had such a childhood, but I don't remember.

[Eduard van Haalen]

But I might recover my memories if a publisher offers me a big enough advance.

[Restoras]

Wasting good bud smoke was not tolerated

Too bad he doesn't seem to feel that way about taxpayer money.

[NeonCat]

Maybe that explains his hatred for medical marijuana users - they're just using it to feel less nausea, pain and discomfort instead of gettin' higher than a kite.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Damnit I've posted this twice today hoping for my first hat tip!

[Bee Tagger]

The most depressing thing is that this will turn into a debate in the media about whether or not we should elect a former pothead rather than what Penn rightfully ranted against the other day.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

if you exhaled precious pakalolo (Hawaiian slang for marijuana, meaning "numbing tobacco") instead of absorbing it fully into your lungs,

Wait, what? You can take a hit, then have all the smoke stay in your lungs? What?

[Brandon]

We called it Zeroing. Apparently you never smoked in dorm rooms?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Ghosting around here.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Seriously, I never heard of this. I've never seen it done, either. Huh.

[fried wylie]

If you fill a box with smoke, then seal it up air tight, will there still be smoke in it when you open the box a day or so later?

Smoke is a suspension of dust particles in the air. When they stop being suspended, and settle onto nearby surfaces, well, then there's no more smoke.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

What's stopping them from being suspended?

[mad libertarian guy]

If you fill a box with smoke, then seal it up air tight, will there still be smoke in it when you open the box a day or so later?

No.

We must also remember that the lungs are not a box, but an air exchanger of sorts. When you take a hit oxygen and smoke enters the lungs, is taken in to the bloodstream, being replaced by CO2.

The short answer is that if you hold it in long enough, when you exhale there will be no smoke.

[Broseph of Invention]

Who wants to bet youngsters see these antics as proof Obama's cool, rather than a life/family/community-destroying hypocrite? I mean, his opposition is only due to the political deathtrap of supporting drugs caused by Republicans. Just wait until his second term. Things are gonna change, I can feel it!

[Brandon]

Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?

[oncogenesis]

For proof, just look at the comments on the Buzzfeed link.

[mdoweht]

I wouldn't trust anybody that has not smoked a little pot.
I wouldn't trust anybody that doesn't drink a little alcohol.
I wouldn't trust anybody that doesn't take a little caffeine.

Why trust abnormal people?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Don't know about tobacco, but Penn Jillette says he never drank or used drugs.

[mdoweht]

Teller intentionally does twice as much as normal so it all balances out..

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Barack Obama understands efficiency in marijuana consumption, yet fails to understand efficiency in every other sphere.

[Agammamon]

Amazing, even as a *pothead* he was a power-hungry, controlling fuck.

[protefeed]

precious pakalolo (Hawaiian slang for marijuana, meaning "numbing tobacco")

"lolo" means "crazy/wild/stupid" in Hawaiian slang, not "numbing":

"Eh, brah, you one lolo mahu -- you wen go Hula's?"

[Ben1234]

If Obama was smoking in my circle and tried that "interception" bullshit, we would all think he was a complete asshole.

So really it's just another sign of his low character that even when he does drugs he can't be cool about it. He's gotta be the selfish jerk who bosses everyone around and takes more than he should.