February 8th, 2011
06:30 PM ET
Yes he can! Quit smoking that is WASHINGTON (CNN) –It’s the smoke-out heard around the world. President Obama’s campaign slogan “Yes We Can,” has now been replaced with “Yes he has,” well at least when it comes to smoking. According to reporters attending a roundtable with the First Lady, Mrs. Obama confirmed that her husband has kicked the habit. “Yes, he has,” she said. “It’s been almost a year.” The First Lady couldn’t provide the exact time when the president tossed his cigs away for good, “because he never smoked a lot,” she said. President Obama has openly discussed his long and difficult struggle with cigarettes. When asked about his habit in 2009, the president said “I don't do it in front of my kids, I don't do it in front of my family, and I would say that I am 95 percent cured.”
By last December, there was noticeable progress according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who all but confirmed the president had stopped smoking. “I have not seen or witnessed evidence of any smoking in probably nine months.” On news of the latest and most reliable confirmation, Gibbs said that overcoming the physical addiction of smoking is possible because “others around them give them the type of encouragement that they need to break what is a tough habit to break.” But even the president realizes that “yes he has” doesn’t rule out “oops he did.” “Like folks who go to AA, once you’ve gone down this path, then it’s something you continually struggle with,” Mr. Obama said. |
  |
 |
|||
|
|
|
||||
No doubt Sarah not-yet-trademarked Palin will dis him for this, saying he's killing jobs by robbing people of livelihoods based on tobacco production, distribution, sales and health care when they get sick and die from it.
Actually, I can't really believe that he has totally quit the smoking habit. He has been truly addicted to tobacco for too long. Just makes me wonder how many packs are stashed on Air Force One. Some say he truly believes what he says, so maybe that's the story and he's sticking to it.
It is possible to quit smoking, even after a long long period of being a habitual smoker. My mother, a smoker of over 30 years, quit cold turkey when she married my stepfather, himself a former smoker. She did not want to be a bad influence on him and tempt him to slide back, so she quit. It's been almost 14 years, and she hasn't had a single cigarette since.
I think it helps that my mother was, like Mrs. Obama says that the President was, never a heavy smoker. So the initial dependence on nicotine is less.
.
Huh???
Been "addicted" too long to quit? Your statement makes no sense at all.
My father smoked.......for 45 years before he decided to quit. It took him all of one week to do it.....and he didn't smoke those sissified filtered cigerettes, either. Nor did he use any nicotine gum or patched. He just finished his last carton......and quit!
You are so right! Tomorrow, that dimwit Sarah will have a cigarette in honor of the President trying to "control" what we do. She's such an idiot.
Why would youdrag "has been" Shara Palin into Obama's habit? Obama is the weak willed wimp that can't quit smoking. He doesn't have the strenght to stop smoking but he runs our country. What a loser.
Just stay tuned. Give her a couple of days.
Do you know of any support megasse boards that are helpful? I used one years ago and now would like to recommend one to a good friend. She suffers from depression and anxiety. She is on medication and sees a psychologist.
Good for him. Wish I could.
Sara, you can – I did and you are stronger than me.
You can do it too! Best of luck to you!
It may suck something awful during the first couple weeks, but trust me you can quit cigs! Will power, will power, will power. I certainly am not trying to be rude, because theres nothing to joke about with cigarettes, but theres nothing worse than hearing someone say they can't quit. You will not die if you stop smoking cigarettes, you will feel like crap for a while and then feel liberated and worlds better, just stick with it!
Tim, well said, I am really good at quitting. Done it a dozen times or more. Going to try again after 40 years of poisoning meself. The only thing scarier than the health implications is $60 a carton 🙂
I swear. Some of you weaklings are afraid of your own shadows. You are allegoric to plain wate and air. You can't drive in the rain worth a damn. You can't raise your kids correctly to be decent human beings anymore. The country is an absolute mess, in no small part to Barry sitting there with his thumb up his rear end. If he smokes, that should be the very LEAST of your concerns.. Frankly, your country is going to hell in a hand basket, and he wants to take a break while the car goes over the cliff and have a smokey smoke.. that's his prerogative. I sure wouldn't want to run this country. no thank you! you bunch of bafooons
Tom, you're quite the piece of work, aren't you?
Sounds like someone is going through withdrawal. You can get through it buddy!
Whatsamatta Tom......you mad?
Sara, all states support free tobacco cessation services. Try calling 800-QUIT-NOW and see if you can get some assistance. This is a CDC-supported effort that all U.S. states have available. Good luck!
You can. Just do it.
The guy has access to launch nuclear weapons. If he wants to smoke, let him have on at it for his remaining tenure in office. I'd hate for him to go through withdrawal during a nuke crisis.
nice of you to say so just so we are clear, his remaining tenure will be two years plus 4 more no doubt
Now that he has access to the best meds tax payers can buy, why waste his time with cigarettes?!
Good for him, I want him and first lady around for a long time.
How is this news? He has told us he quit before, and even gave other people advice on how to quit. But I guess we know what his word is worth.
I'm confused. I thought when you gave up smoking you would put on 25 lbs and not your wife. Is this a first?
Obama says he's 95% cured of smoking? A smoker (ex or not) is never "cured". One must always guard against ever picking up again. I'm 11 years smoke-free and do not consider myself cured. Obama needs a shift in his attitude to stay smoke free.
That quote was from a while ago, when he was commenting on how, while he hadn't kicked the habit completely, he had reduced it. Though I agree that the word "cure" is inappropriate in that context (although the President did say that, like an alcoholic going to AA, it's something you constantly struggle with).
Now if he can just quit his spending and gambling habit supported with tax payer money until 2012!
fail.......
"Yes he has"
mad man, get a life, really. The man quite smoking, and that's a good thing. Only Americans can turn this into a negative. EWhat a loser you are
Amen....
Bite me...the CHANGE has made this my life...
Hello,
My name is Ray and I'm an addict. I have smoked for 39 years. I am currently wearing a patch to assist me in my goal of quitting tobacco. Even with the patch, giving up cigs is extremely hard. I have time periods when I am just a nervous wreck because I crave the cig.
When I was a child, everyone used tobacco in one form or another; cigs, snuff, pipe, or cigar. Everyone smoked whenever and whereever they wanted. Commercials on TV, now banned, showed young adults hanging out at the beach smoking or just enjoying life in general. Today, a lot of smokers don't even smoke in their own homes because of the persistant odor of cigarettes. People are aware the danger of 2nd hand smoke and the health related issues of long-term usage of tobacco. Insurance companies even give a discount to non-smokers and charge smokers more for their health insurance. Why hasn't the tobacco industry been shut down by the government?
Oh, hat off and hand salute to Obama for giving up tobacco.
Dumb comments as usual from Stupid, disrespectful Americans!
Typical NeoCon comment
I swear. Some of you weaklings are afraid of your own shadows. You are allegoric to plain wate and air. You can't drive in the rain worth a damn. You can't raise your kids correctly to be decent human beings anymore. The country is an absolute mess, in no small part to Barry sitting there with his thumb up his rear end. If he smokes, that should be the very LEAST of your concerns.. Frankly, your country is going to hell in a hand basket, and he wants to take a break while the car goes over the cliff and have a smokey smoke.. that's his prerogative. I sure wouldn't want to run this country. no thank you! you bunch of bafooons
Yeah those two wars left off the books sure helped a lot.
obviously you no nothing about givernment and history of republican spending especially under reagan
Congrats Prez ! Wish i could do the same and i wish you could somehow get the damn cigarette companies to help "cure me." Especially now that I got laid-off 🙁 Please, Please more Jobs !
I much prefer informative articles like this to that high brow liertautre.
He should quit lying also.Taxpayer watchdog group disputes Obama's new claim that he 'didn't raise taxes once,' saying he's signed at least two dozen tax increases and violated his campaign pledge.
But according to his lemmings, he quit many, many years ago.
Isn't smoking banned in all government buildings? Last time I checked the white house was a gov building.
Smoking in the White House is not an impeachable offense. Maybe some of you jerks would feel better about his tobacco usage if he was making out with the female interns while he was smoking.
I am a conservative & I don't care whether he smokes or not. Laura Bush is a smoker & people respectfully left her alone. Obama would've been left alone, too, if he would have just leveled with people instead of giving evasive answers.
And, by the way, Mrs. First Lady–please leave us alone. We didn't elect you to be Food Czarina. Stop whining about obesity, big portions and restaurants and how Americans eat too much salt. Take care of your own body & your own kids.
We didn't need Laura telling us to read either. Were you complaining then? And Nancy telling us " just say no!" Same question.
That was OK.....neither of them were Democrats...or Black....
Look forward to the news story of when your 600 pound kids have to be pried from their bedding, greased through a doorway and loaded onto a flatbed for transfer to a hospital.
Maybe not elected but still a big part of the(our) American story. Sorry you cannot see the leader that is standing right in front of you.
I love the way some want to raise taxes on cigarettes, ban them or any of the foolish ideas to get peolole to quit smoking. On the other hand the First Lady talks about obesity and the health and financial problems caused by it and some say she has no right to speak against obesity. In New York they have tried to put oa tax on sugar drinks, to help pay for the health issues of the overwieght. The people went beserk, but we have the highest taxes on cigarettes in the country. We promote drinking(peple die everyday from alcohol) but cigarette smokers are second class citizens. Something is wrong!!
I have not smoked in 8 days!
from your blog name it is apparently crack you must be speaking of
Big F–ing deal. Who REALLY cares about this stupid Community Organizer who never tells the truth and always spins his "facts"? Worst President in history. I wonder if Michelle is proud of her country yet?
Hey..stop your fussing against President Obama.....Here ihe is (again) giving us HOPE..for those who cannot stop smoking....see? you also can...He could..
Go get a life and leave him alone..
I wish he would quit his JOB and let a competent person run this country.
Yes we need another Bush clone. Ahead to the past featuring Halliburton and the rest.
If you like job quitters, there's Palin...
I love it! What a great response, right on target.
Barry quit being a senator.
Yeah, and he got a promotion didn't he? Where's Sarah? Oh thats right, somewhere mixing up another unintelligible word salad.
Tony, yea, like Barry claiming there are 57 states. Youtube is full of fun videos of Barry and O'Biden mixing it up.
Not over tricky dicky's resignation, are ya'???
Ramon would sound more lucid if he would get some help for those habits.
He is not competent.. really? Really? or are you just put off becuase he is smarter than the last one? We finally have a President that truely has the U.S.' best interests in mind.
WWHHHAAAATTTTT?????!!!!!
He has his liberal left progressive parties best interests in mind to reshape America to some quasi Socio-Marxist Nation, otherwise we would be building nuclear power plants and easing coal powered plant regulations to aide us in cutting off the foreign oil dependency. You just keep drinking the kool aide and consider these words, Experience hath shewn that Mankind are more disposed to suffer while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the fors to which they are accustomed.
Mad man- You cant build a nuclear power plant in one year. It iwll take you five years to get someone to agree to build one in their back yard. And what about the spent waste that someone has to take and dispose of in places that wont ruin the environment for the next 1000 years. Who do you think will have to foot the bill for all of the nuclear waste. These things have to be well planned. Not just put in place so we can drive the cost of electricity down to zero.
In fact, why don't you get a petition started in your neighborhood to put a nuclear power plant and a place to disposed of it. Take it to congress and get one started
Are you trying to tell me that State, local and Federal Government could not streamline the permitting process to locate a myriad of nuclear facilities on property that they already control for the betterment of our Nation? How many nuclear powered submarines and frigates do we have in our fleet now??
As a matter of fact we have at least two nuclear facilities in my State and as evidenced by France, our technologies have advanced to the point that the waste of old is not the waste of today. Our "Leaders" have had since the 1970's to come up with some innovative ideas to bring our Nation to self reliance regarding energy needs and look what they have NOT done. If the current Administration can force healthcare, bailouts, stimuless, EPA greenhouse regulations and flourescent lite bulbs to go blind by down our throats, then I would think they could build a few nuclear powered plants and relax coal powered emissions rather than some high speed rail to nowhere.
Someone like you, maybe? Who can't even formulate an educated comment?
Name me one.
Today, Republicans attacked the Obama's. First, they attacked Michelle Obama for daring to suggest to Americans to eat a balanced meal and skip the dessert. Now, they attacked President Obama for "turning communist" by quitting using a product which made America great – cigarettes.
You've got that right greenspam. Even if he was the best ever, the Repugs featuring the Beckster would continue their propaganda fest. America would do a lot better if the population had better health, better education and did their own thinking.
You got the last few words right, but you need to add That Americans should be able to make their own decisions as well, such as healthcare, first and second amendments rights, etc.
You got that right Bill, and the Federal Government is not the one to give those things to us. Better healthcare comes with treating and feeding our bodies better, better education comes from responsible parents teaching their children dedication and discipline as well as the importance of education. When I read blogs attributing Government expansion as the answer to where we are at or as our savior it makes me ill, why do you think we are at where we are. Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats when he gets hungry!
The Republicans would attack Obama no matter what he did. The ATTACKS are a political strategy and nothing more. They have no real merit. It's all a political game.
I don't remember the last time I heard a Republican say a kind word about anything or anybody. No surprises here. Negativity ad nauseum
I don't remember the last time I heard a Republican offer a kind word about anybody or anything.
Michele Obama needs to stay the hell out of my life and my children's lives. She needs to be preparing her family for their post-presidential life which will begin in January of 2013.
The First Lady do not know you are your kids. Her life in will always be better than yours. So go cry on that. Their life is better than yourssssssssssss.
nobody is in your life or your children's lives. You can continue to feed the fat little future teatards twinkies and moon pies and no one is going to say a word. While you are at it stuff a cigarette in their mouths too.
lol...I'm sorry but, the teatard comment made me laugh. It's how they sound though.....
I am amused that people remain to think that it is the Federal Governments job to instruct us on how and what to eat. I believe that anyone that can think to post or agree with such an overreach of government is simply the product of said overreach and is on their perpetual quest of looking for Mommy and Daddy to take care of them. Do yourselves a favor and read the Constitution, Declaration and Bill of Rights. I doubt it would do any good, but try it and consider what an oppressive Government is and where how it can grow like a cancer.
I am amused that people think that nutritional suggestions are some sort of vast conspiracy to intrude into your life. You can follow them or not. If you want to stuff yourself and your kids with junk food, go right ahead. No one is gong to stop you. I never heard anyone complaining about projects and issues championed by previous first ladies, literacy and drugs, intruding into people's lives. Why is that?
Paranoid much,
When did you think that the Federal government would tell you what kind of light bulb to use in your own home.
When did you think that the Federal government would mandate that you purchase a service, such as health insurance?
When did you think the Federal government would mandate what was politically acceptable speech or who or what you are to conform to with regard to our society?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and politicians light the way with their bright ideas.
Only in American can switching to superior technology to save money and the environment be considered government intrusion. I'll bet you still use an 8 track tape too? What laws are you talking about limiting free speech?
On the other hand, the wingnuts think it is perfectly acceptable to tell people who they can marry, where they can build places of worship, what they can do with their bodies, and what their end of life choices are...and that is all OK
The more reason to like my Prez. Obbie.
Ditto. Couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks.
I don't want to hear he stopped from Gibbs or the Mrs. He needs to say it for me to believe.
Even if he said it himself, could you believe it? He just told O'Reilly on national TV on Sunday that he did not raise taxes, he's lowered taxes. He HAS NOT! He raised taxes numerous times and his idea of lowering taxes is to NOT raise them??...i.e., leaving the BUSH tax cuts IN PLACE. I think not!
Evidence? Come on... all you're doing is leveling accusations. I know, from looking at my paycheck, that my federal tax burden has gone down since he became president. So... where is your evidence? Please show your work.
specifically, what taxes has he raised?? Tobacco doesn't count, that is done at the state level.
How would we know and why should we care?
As a fellow ex smoker, I'd like to welcome President Obama into the 365 club. Congrats on making a decision to not die a long, painful death.
It's the smoke right after a big meal that keeps me from stopping. No matter what it's the first thing I want to do. Very hard to stop once you've got a habit going. And I think it's not just the addictive substance but the routine that I'm addicted to.
Now, Damn! This guy is an absolute role model – Clean inside and out! Good for you, Obama! And Proud that you are our president!
good, now if he would just do something healthy for this country that would be fantastic.
good, now if he would just do something healthy for this country that would be fantastic!
He shows again he's just a clown with very little willpower. I smoked for 33 years. 7 years ago I decided to quit, took 1 week ween myself from my nicotine habit and haven't touched one since. I can sit in a room full of smokers and still have no urge to light one up, myself. Not an addiction for me, just a habit I enjoyed and then gave-up.
He should've either quit before he was elected or waited until after he's booted out of the White House to do it; do we REALLY like the idea of having an addict kicking his habit and going through recovery while running our country?
Well Praise the Lord Almighty!!!
You are so powerful and absolutely better than the rest of us that I vote you become the President of the World!!!
I hope you are intelligent enough to recognize sacarsm...
If he smokes in the private family residence in the White House- he should be fined. It is against federal law to smoke in a federally owned or operated facility. Unless of course he exempted himself for special treatment. Duh....
Probably just another one of his 'executive orders.'
Can Obama quit smoking? Can Boehner? Is it anybodies business but theirs?
Very valid point.
Boehner owns up to his habit, knows it bad, but as he says, "leave him alone.'
Eh, sorry for flubbing you handle, I meant Willowspring.
Thanks for the rationalization Wellspring. But answer the question, how is it any anybody elses business? Seems to me Obama has been honest about his addiction, "I've said before that as a former smoker I constantly struggle with it," the president said. "Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No."
"I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where, there are times where I mess up," That was 2 years ago, It is entirely possible that he ahs actually quit in the last two years. You can choose not to belive that, but realize there is no empirical evedence that he's lying; just your belief. How Boehner is being more honest than Obama in their individual situations, I don't know. Perhaps you can explain it? And again how is it any of your business?
I really doubt that he has quit. The lies being told by the Obamas seem to be accelerating in number and size.
you are retarded
He doesn't care what you think...neitherd do I...
Neither do I...sorry.
Jo an, you could help yourself by dropping the cocain habit and getting some help.
Really, what are some of his lies?
Saying just this past Sunday that he had not raised taxes and has actually lowered them. NOT!! The only thing he did was continue the Bush tax cuts instead of raising them. He has raised other taxes, one of which is on tobacco.
To Willowspring:
OMG, he has raised taxes on cigarettes!!! That's terrible!!!
Wait, cigarettes are bad for you and everyone around you and will give you cancer which will make you require health care and since most Americans don't have the right coverage because the insurance companies are always out to s**w you than the government will have to pay for your treatment with the taxes from where??? Oh, from the cigarettes that you bought...
See a pattern here, I'm a smoker and I absolutely approve raising taxes on cigarettes!
Transparency in government, no lobbyists, out of Gitmo, no new taxes, not raise taxes, bring folks together, that he's a moderate,......I could go on and on.
Liberals should ask such silly questions.
Now where did I put that musty old birthcertificate?
blah blah blah....black.. blach blah blah muslim.....blah blah blah socialist blah blah blah ayers
blah blah blah...liberal.
I believe smoking as well as any other addiction flags a character flaw and lack of will power.
Lack of forgiveness is a character defect.
So what's keeping you from being president? Smoking didn't stop John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses Grant, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William Taft, Warren Harding,Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, or Obama from being presedents. All of them smoked cigarettets at one time or another, many others smoked cigars, a pipe, or dipped.
But the difference between all of those men and Obama is that Obama is a congenital liar. We will never know if he has kicked the habit because he can never be trusted to tell the truth about anything.
Well root and branch you got me there. But congenital is a condition, like congenital heart disease, perhaps you meant compulsive? And, I actually feel pretty confident saying that every other name on that list lied to get into office, and lied about what happened while in office.
Congenital is the correct term. Mr. Obama seems to have been born with a condition that prompts him to tell the biggest whopping lies and to believe them himself. He said last weekend he has actually lowered taxes. Big fat lie. He says he wants to bring Americans together, yet he operates under the Marxist Saul Alinsky's theories of dividing, agitating, then conquring the American people. Another big lie by Obama. So........did he quit somking or not. Probably not. But he thinks he did simply because he said he did.
Then you must think John Boehner is a flawed and weak willed man.
If you have any character, there will be a flaw in it. It's the ones that talk about will power and specks in others eyes that you have to watch.
Good for you, Sir. That was actually one of the very few things I hated about you. By the way, I really liked your remarks at the national prayer breakfast thing.
he deserves another nobel prize for this accomplishment – this stunning achievement ranks right up there with the other great things he's done for this country and the world in general. wonder if he ever inhaled?
Yes, he did. He admits his drug use very openly.
There are no human beings without any bad habits. Those who struggle to get rid of them exhibit character.
Where did he smoke in the White House? The building is part residence and part government building. Did he smoke around government employees or maybe he just let his kids breath second hand smoke.
Jay in NC has problems
Jay, it says he DOES NOT smoke around his kids. DOn't try to put negative information out there when it is already printed otherwise.
Typical republican ploy.
Simple fact is every republican has an issue with him because he is black... not because of his governing skills. Because he is black he is given a much harder time than they ever gave George Bush. It is true Repub racism through and through.
"given a much harder time than they ever gave George Bush." ??? maybe you missed the movie about the assassination of President Bush, or maybe the protesters with signs saying to 'Kill Bush' were not shown on your Liberal channels. I asked the question where did he smoke. No one has given a clear answer. Only people like you defending this government employee for smoking on the job.
Who cares besides CNN?
Wow, you people especially including Jay in NC really have issues. You just hate, that's down right nasty and wrong. Go Pres Obama, all the best and continue to WOW all.
It's a tough habit to break under any circumstances. The fact that he did it while dealing with the 24/7 of being president... well, he's a tougher man than most folks I know.
tHIS IS A SICK STORY about a sick worthless man.
QUIT SMOKING DID HE? Well he didn't quit taxing. A bristling Obama insistent he “absolutely” denies that charge — and went on to insist that he’d never raised taxes.
“I didn’t raise taxes once,” Obama told O’Reilly. “I lowered taxes over the last two years. I lowered taxes for the last two years.” There’s just one small problem for that statement from the president: Everyone from tax watchdogs to newspaper editors to independent fact-checking organizations say it’s simply not true. “He lied,” Americans for Tax Reform founder and President Grover Norquist flatly tells Newsmax. Obama has raised taxes more than 20 times. Norquist says. OBAMA IS STILL THE BIGGEST LIAR IN THE NATION.
Just what has he raised taxes on? The only taxes I have seen go up are raised by the state.
Grover Norquist and Newsmax? Now there are a couple of non biased sources
Evidence? Come on... let's have some actual evidence back up the accusations.
No, the biggest liar was Bush, and his lies killed thousands.
He has the most powerful and stressful job in the free world. Let the man have a damn cigarette.
Sends the Prez an E-Cig, MUCH better.
That is great. He is the greatest President the US has ever had.
I bet you area smoker too.
Kool-aide break...
Please enlighten us as to what he has accomplished other than quadrupling our debt, maintaining an unemployment rate the likes we've not seen since the depression, burdening tax payers with Obamacare and bailouts, or perhaps how he has moved our Nation forward and as to why or how you could make such a preposterous (that means crazy) statement.
GBIRD, the old presidents smoked, chewed and dipped when it was fashionable and before it was common knowledge that tobacco causes many ill effects. Now, it even tells you on the packageof cigarettes that "this product will kill you deader than hell". You would think most reasonable people, armed with that information, would avoid smoking.
That is a perfectly reasonable argument. But it was fashionable to smoke in the 70's when Obama started also. And, while the Surgen General had determined by 1970 that ciggarette smoking was definately hazerdous to your health, that all the warnings said. The cigarette lobby did pour a huge amount of money into legislation to limit what claims they would have to punlically make. It wasn't until 1985 that cigarette pack warnings got really specific with: SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. And similar labels. But by then a whole lot of people were already addicted. Common knowlege of the real hazards of smoking didn't become widespread, publicaly, until the 80's. Just like the dangers of drunk driving, M.A.D.D. first incorpertated in 1980. It's easy to say people should have known in the 70's, and a lot of people did; but a lot of people didn't yet. Why, how, and how long it takes to quit is a personal thing. That's pretty much the nature of addiction. Why doesn't the heroin addict quit before he O.D.'s? Because he's a heroin addict. And quitting smoking can be as hard as quitting heroin for some people.
That's true, but don't lie about it and that's what he did for a long time. He was also breaking the law by smoking in the WH.
He didn't lie about it, and I don't know if he is breaking the law but how do you know he did? Do you have pictures? I do that know plenty of other presidents have smoked cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and dipped while president, I can't confirm if any of them did it in the actual structure, out on a balcony, or out the backdoor; and if you are being honest, neither can you.
Or, to put it another way. To say that being addicted to cigarettes indicates a character flaw, when the addicted person was introduced to the substance, legally, as a teen ager, just doesn't make sense to me. I can understand that argument for the generation that is coming up. They've grown up with full knowlege of the choice they're making. But being of Obama's generation, I can't say that was my experience.
I sent him a carton of Newports for Christmas, I mean Ramadan.
Kinda makes you wonder why there's not a big popular push for alternative energy. People have had oil held over their head for 40 years now and they still want Camaros and Mustangs.
we dont care. this isnt news. get a life and move on.
Good luck Mr. President. It's hard, but not impossible. Your family, country and lungs will thank you.
As a fellow journalist, please explain to me how this is newsworthy. No one cares who smokes and who doesn't, unless he or she has no life.
j, looks like you jumped right in there and are participating in the none news event. You want to join us in getting a life.
Congratulations to him, it's not an easy habit to break.
And to all those writing vitriolic comments on this blog, your hatred of this man is becoming a sickness. it isn't normal to hate a stranger this much.
George W Bush started to unfunded wars, one of them of dubious legality and with a 100 000 body count, he caused a global econeomic recession with his negligence, and he has openly admitted to torture, yet I don't feel the hatred towards him that you people seem to feel towards Barack Obama, who has done NONE of these things.
If you have even an ounce of decency or honesty left in you, I suggest you take a good hard look at what you've written, and at yourself.
I promise you won't like what you see. There's no cause or justification for these attacks and they serve only to slow down america's progress and diminish you personally.
If you can't figure out where this mindless hatred is comin from, see a shrink.
I'm not being funny here, I'm being serious. It's not normal.
TOM needs attention everybody, can you please give it to him? he had to post his rant twice! the humanity!
as for Obama, good for him. ill bum you one whenever you need it.
I'm not sure I want my President giving up a habit like smoking while he's working for me. We only need him 2 more years, minimum.
It's interesting to me how the posts of any article concerning any political figure immediately turn into a hostile rant by whoever all you people are. You flag-waving jingoistic nothingheads wouldn't know democracy if it fell on you. You get the fighting part, but that's about it. You get the President you deserve. Think Bush was a moron? We elected him!!! Same with Obama. Look, when the people get chapped enough to make their voices heard, our government does respond. Health care was a perfect example. People finally started to wig once we bailed out every financial institution that p!ssed away all their assets on stupid loans and mysterious deriviatives. That's what they should have freaked about. Instead they started worrying about health care, which some people fed, instead of actually getting educated about the subject. Fact is, the cheapest way to afford health care would be to have absolutely everybody pay into a pool so that the few of us who get sick don't die or get worse when we have the ability to heal them. Government is always a pain in the a$$ but worst thing you'll get with health care is you'll for sure be able to see a doctor eventually.
Reap it, America.
with all that he has to deal with – president obama should be commended for smoking cessation. i'm not the president, and it was the hardest thing that i've done in my lifetime.
This president has shown tremendous courage in his many endeavours. He has decided to lead a nation where about 30-35 percent absolutely hate him because of his colour. He has confounded even his milder critics and he will go down as the greatest president this country and leader the world has ever had
“Like folks who go to AA, once you’ve gone down this path, then it’s something you continually struggle with,” Mr. Obama said.
No offense, Mr. President, but that is simply not true. I quit drinking 32 years ago and never ever considered doing it again. I quit smoking 5 years ago after 40 years and again, I never ever considered doing it again. They key is in not wanting to do something, no matter what is is. If you want to do something, you will. If you don't want to do it, then you won't. It's as simple as that. So if you're struggling with being an ex-smoker, then it is obvious to me that you still want to smoke.
good for him ... as Commander in Chief he should act according with his policy for the active duty ... since there is a concerted effort to reduce tobacco use in the military.
is he still using the nicotine patches?
"effort to reduce tobacco use in the military."
If you like the civilian-military mixup, there is Venezula, Cuba, Egypt... My prez Obbie is a pure civilian.
He Can. I smoked two or more packs a day for 50 years. I smoked one day, didn't smoke the next day or any days after.
How? Whenever I had an urge to smoke, I picked up a toothpick and sucked on it for a few minutes. During the first couple of weeks, I dipped my toothpick into cinnemon oil. Soon the plain toothpick was enough.
That was eight years ago. I haven't smoked since.
It has been scientifically proven that people who smoke have less of an IQ than those who don't. Need I say more?
Yippee. Obama quit smoking.
Now maybe he'll quit green-lighting drone strikes on huts full of malnourished Afghani children and their terrified mothers, quit torturing people in Guantanamo, quit sucking up to corporate fat-cats, and quit throwing organized labor under the bus. I mean, if he can quit smoking, he surely can do those things, too.
Stop smoking TOBACCO. kills you.
Smoke Marihuana, is free if you grow it, it is healthy free of toxins (unlike tobacco), weed makes you think or laugh or dance, inspires you, does not give 2nd hand effects, and is 100% a gift of nature.
He quit smoking what???
"I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years," Obama wrote in "Dreams From My Father," in a section of the book about his college days. "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though. ..."
fyi: "Blow" is a street name for cocaine. "Smack" is slang for heroin. "
Obama, I heard a good way to quit smoking is to actually smoke 10 times the usual amount, and without the filters. It works! Do that for a while, and you'll never smoke again! Good luck!
I used to joke with people I'd stop when the president stopped. I stopped 5 days ago- I'll check back
5 months and 5 years from now. Feels better. 300 bucks extra per month in my pocket.
Why does it honestly matter if he smokes or not????
Smoking is the most deadly drug addiction of all. The average smoker dies 15 years younger, and death from emphysema or lung cancer is painful, slow, and unpleasant. The average smoker is 25 times more likely to get lung cancer, and a smoker with lung cancer has only a one in seven chance of surviving five years or more – and those five years all hell. Children in the homes of smokers have twice the ear/nose/throat illnesses, and smoking in the presence of children should be banned. I once owned a retail business, and I lost count of the number of my customers who were heavy smokers that dropped dead in their 40s and 50s.
Smokers, you are stupid, and you stink like a stale ashtray all the time. Tobacco production needs to be banned in this country now.
No Mike, subsidized and mandatory healthcare insurance and treatment for tobacco users needs to be banned immediately. If we were to ban tobacco then how would we get rid of the idiots that choose to kill themselves?
Excellent point. Some doctors refuse to treat smokers – all should. And insurance companies should refuse to cover smokers...
ok, Lets ban alcohol and sugar drinks alos. They kill too. Drunk drivers kill every day!!!! All the sugar and sugar products we consume has raised the diabetic papulation, not to mention the obesity problem. These also kill.
Valerie, all those things put together, and illegal drugs to boot don't kill but a small fraction of the half million Americans that cigarettes kill each year. Alcohol and sugar are not physically addictive drugs, and can be used safely in moderation. Cigarettes are just dope, and smokers are just drug users. Cigarettes have no benefits whatsoever, and have far more in common with meth, cocaine, and heroin, than alcohol and sugar.
Mike and Valerie,
here is a real shocker for you both, the natural order of things requires that people die, it is a natural cycle of events...the problem seems to be that instead of allowing the incurably ill to succumb to their ailments, the general populous must now pay for their medical treatments to provide for their extended long, costly and dismal future. I know that is cold but that is what medical technological advances have provided for us all; What is that old saying, don't do the crime if you can't do the time?
Being an ex-smoker myself...I just have to wish him luck.
he has a lot of nerve to force health care on the whole country and he is a smoker. will we the people have to pay for his stupidity on being a smoker and why would his wife put up with him smoking all these years when she is on such a push for people to improve on their eating for the sake of their health. well he is a bossy person and i guess she has to life with it.
Oh, I thought he quit that spendy vacationing idiot wife and through her to the side of the rode so we could put America back, but then again if both of them would quit and go back to their muslim brothers in Kenya wouldnt be soon enough for me. Obama you are a WASTE to mankind.
Who cares? I mean, I'm glad he quit (been quit 6 years, myself) but Obama has his finger on the nuclear button. Let the guy have a drag!
Now if we can just get Michelle to lose some weight, we'll have a healthy first family.
Mark Twain said that quitting smoking is easy to do, I have done it a thousand times.
Keep smoking Obama and quit the White House instead you socialist muslim pile of garbage.
Wow, you just keep getting it wrong you worthless pile of garbage (not so much fun when it's directed at you is it). Whether you agree with him or not, he's NOT a socialist and he's NOT muslim (and even if he was, what's it to you)!!!
Right on Ann, and he doesn't dye his hair either, and he plays a mean game of hoop, and he didn't raise taxes via increase costs of services taxed on the other end or cause inflation or quadruple the National debt, or hang out with Bill Ayers. You tell that nasty old combat vet that fought to defend your freedom and liberty!
sure you are.....
He just switched one addiction for another. Smoking v. Destroying a country.
I thought when the headline read that he kicked bad habits that he stopped bargaining with Republicans. Oh CNN! How you disappoint me again...
Let's hope he's telling the truth about something for a change.
Does anybopdy know what brand cigarette he smoked?
CAMELS.
You know, you look at all the negative comments and this is the number ONE reason why your country is going to hell in a hand basket!
So much for Barry being smart.
1966, Barry was 6 years old: Caution: Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health
1970, Barry was 10 years old: Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health.
But then again this was the labels in the USA, Barry spent most of his youth in a foreign country.
Is Hawaii a foreign country, Jay? He was born in 1961, so he was 5. Therefore he was 9 in 1970. I don't think his mother had to be concerned with making sure he read the CAUTION labels on cigarrette packs at 5 an 9! And had he 'spent most of his youth in a foreign country' most of his young life, they smoke AMERICAN cigarrettes overseas too! YOU ARE A SAD ONE JAY!
Oh Liz, Liz, Liz, my post was in response to people saying that the cigarette labels were not as clear back in the day
Barry did spend his youth in a forgiven country. He was called Barry Soetoro.
Is this sort of story really the sort of thing that should be on a "serious" news site like CNN? It seems like there is a lot of reporting lately about relatively minor details of President Obama's personal life, the kind of stuff that should be left to the tabloids and Entertainment Tonight. I haven't really been politically aware for all that long, so I don't know if this is the norm, but something feels off when stories about whether or not the President dyes his hair (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/09/obama-does-not-dye-hair-michelle-obama-says/) are considered important enough by the media and the public to be near the top of the CNN politics page. I understand that there are slow news days, but wouldn't it be nice if, instead of trying to fill space with articles putting a magnifying glass over minor details of Obama's personal life, we just let things be and wait for a story of real substance to break?
its been over 15 years since I last smoked a cigarette, I quit cold turkey after 10 years, its possible. if I can, I think yes he can.
Pres. Teddy Roosevelt said "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Guess which Pres. said "Jigaboo loudly and carry a basketball."
Oh, Jay, Jay, Jay! 'So much for Barry being smart' Do you really think I buy your post as a response to people on the blog saying cigarette labels weren't as clear back in the day? My name is Liz Carter, not 'Willy Lump-Lump'! It was just another kick in the head of BARAK OBAMA, and you know it! The man was born and raised in HAWAII.
I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Smoking cigarettes has extensively already been accepted because cause of numerous long-term well being illness. Lung illness, jaws melanoma, body melanoma and just about any wellbeing ...SmokeStik
This is very interesting, You're a very skilled blogger. I've joined your feed and look ahead to in quest of more of your fantastic post. Additionally, I've shared your site in my social networks
Hi there, after reading this amazing article i am also delighted to share my experience here with friends. Ecopure http://www.okno24.net/strona/e-papieros.html