# Does Obama still smoke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311 "2008-07-21T22:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/41 "2008-10-08T16:57:28Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Who fucking cares? Ta da! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/42 "2008-10-08T16:58:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure, it’s a legal drug. Ok, let’s say he was addicted to prescription painkillers. Would that be an issue? Or he was an alcoholic- which is just alcohol addiction. That would be a campaign issue, no?] But Joe Sixpack smokes! As long as the addiction doesn’t mentally impair you, I personally don’t see the relevance. Alcoholism can pretty clearly render you unable to function well cognitively, so it would probably be an issue for me. I don’t know what painkiller addiction does to you, so I can’t make any judgments on that. Fuck, I know plenty of doctors who smoke, doesn’t make a whit of difference to me or my trust level of them. In all honest, I’m more suspicious of people who don’t seem to have any personal vices. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/43 "2008-10-08T19:29:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s a drug, smokers are drug addicts. Does he have the willpower to beat the addiction? Apparantley so, and if so kudos to him. > > Sure, it’s a legal drug. Ok, let’s say he was addicted to prescription painkillers. Would that be an issue? Or he was an alcoholic- which is just alcohol addiction. That would be a campaign issue, no? > > My WAG is that he is trying very very hard to quit but may have fallen off the wagon for a very occassional secret smoke once in a while. This is what \*\*Argent Towers \*\*was referring to when he called smoking a polarizing issue. Here we have a poster equating a guy with a smoking habit to a drug addict and an alcoholic, and suggesting that it should be a campaign issue. QED ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/44 "2008-10-08T19:52:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s a drug, smokers are drug addicts. Does he have the willpower to beat the addiction? Apparantley so, and if so kudos to him. > > Sure, it’s a legal drug. Ok, let’s say he was addicted to prescription painkillers. Would that be an issue? Or he was an alcoholic- which is just alcohol addiction. That would be a campaign issue, no? > > My WAG is that he is trying very very hard to quit but may have fallen off the wagon for a very occassional secret smoke once in a while. And, what if, heaven forbid, he indulged in that drug a lot of us know all too well, caffeine. That cup of java every morning; the campaign issue to end all campaign issues. Og knows we can’t have a _drug addict_ in the White House! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/45 "2008-10-08T20:08:29Z")
President Bartlet smoked whenever he was stressed and he usually was able to deal with the worst the world was able to deal him within sixty minutes each week. Minus commercial breaks, of course. I’ll take that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/46 "2008-10-08T20:26:08Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > President Bartlet smoked whenever he was stressed and he usually was able to deal with the worst the world was able to deal him within sixty minutes each week. . I have little doubt that each on-screen puff was paid for by Big Tobacco. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/47 "2008-10-08T20:27:36Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > And, what if, heaven forbid, he indulged in that drug a lot of us know all too well, caffeine. That cup of java every morning; the campaign issue to end all campaign issues. Og knows we can’t have a _drug addict_ in the White House! Caffiene is not generally considered addictive. I quite often have none all weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/48 "2008-10-08T20:31:11Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Yeah, he does, but he doesn’t inhale. 🙂 > **[\- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpBzQI_7ez8%5C)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Of course he inhaled..that was the point. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/49 "2008-10-08T20:31:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Caffiene is not generally considered addictive. I quite often have none all weekend. Interesting. When I was a smoker, I often had no cigarettes during the weekend. My roommate, on the other hand, gets a horrible headache if she doesn’t have caffeine in the morning. Every morning. Anecdotes, not data. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/50 "2008-10-08T20:55:07Z")
> [@malkavia](#): > > Interesting. When I was a smoker, I often had no cigarettes during the weekend. My roommate, on the other hand, gets a horrible headache if she doesn’t have caffeine in the morning. Every morning. > > Anecdotes, not data. Do you really want cites that nicotine is addictive? :dubious: Or that caffiene is _generally_ considered habit-forming as opposed to addictive?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311/51 "2008-10-08T22:48:14Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [A few times](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/obama-admits-to.html) on the camptaign trail. This appears to be as close to a GQ answer to the OP as we are likely to get here. I’m declaring this asked and answered. Those who wish to debate other aspects related to Obama’s smoking may start a thread in GD. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-still-smoke/457311.md?page=2)