Obama And Cigarettes: No Smoking Violations In The White House (VIDEO)

Obama sought to reassure the nation that while he occasionally sneaked a cigarette during the rigorous presidential campaign, he won't succumb to such temptations in the White House:

Obama was asked -- as he occasionally is, most recently by ABC's Barbara Walters -- whether he still sneaks a cigarette now and then. He suggested he does, but said he won't at his new address.

"What I said was that there were times where I have fallen off the wagon," Obama said. "What I would say is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself much healthier, and I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House."

Watch Obama's full interview with Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press" here.

Comments

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

That means that Obama has to cold-turkey on alcohol too since alcohol destroys the liver. Meat is pretty bad for the health in regards to cholesterol, hormones, and anti-biotics in livestocks. Obama should also be a rawfood vegan for better health. We make him meditate for higher wisdom also. lol
This world is all screwed up, murdering innocent animals and eating them is better than smoking tobacco leaves.

[Adam11]

Obama Smokes!.....So...who cares........

Tell me how my freinds get their jobs Back!!!.. i still i got mind.....lucklly.

[ORpolitico]

Just another Republican/Democrat double standard. Laura Bush smokes like a chimney and the media has never called her out on it. If the White House is a smoke-free zone, I wonder where she smokes?

[FiveFortyOne]

I believe it was Michelle Obama who made it a public issue. I've been wondering if he's annoyed at her for doing that.

[NoMoreFreepers]

don't know where Laura was blowing her smoke but we all know where Dubya was blowing his and it ain't his lips!!!

[kelly]

i almost didnt vote for him because smokers are weak.

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

kelly, you should quit eating meat and cooked food, too. Can you do it, tough girl?

[LolaP]

yeah so are people who drink alcohol (so pathetic, what you're not interesting enough without it?), sugar eaters (even more weak and pathetic), coffee drinkers, people who take pharmaceuticals such as anti-depressants (get over it!), people who eat meat, wheat, dairy (soo unhealthy), processed foods (kelly, if you're eating any of these you're a total loser), and folks who don't work out and have fat bums (weak weak weak), use products with chemicals in them, drink tap water.. blah blah blah

I'm so glad you and me, kelly, we're perfect:-)

[LoveFromLondon]

I almost didn't vote for him because he eats granola

[karinova]

Good grief. Why does anyone even care about this?

Is being a smoker now on the Giant List of Unspoken Disqualifies for The Presidency, including being unmarried and being anything but Chris.tian?

[iwantpie]

Only if you are black.

[Avatar19]

Everyone has their Vices why can't the president everyone isn't perfect!!

[kcsmom]

Interesting...I love Obama and voted for him, but I always thought he "looked" like a smoker. Smokers are always in denial until they really want to quit. My husband tried 3 times to quit. He would tell me he just wanted one after dinner, or with his coffee, etc. It wasn't until his younger brother died within three months of being diagnosed at 46 with esophogeal cancer, leaving three young children, that he really was able to quit. He hasn't had a cigarette for fifteen years and doesn't miss it now. Also, his doctor told him recently he has Barret's esophagus which can be a precursor to cancer, so he has to keep getting checked. Doctor said its a very good thing he quit when he did.
Obama's mother got cancer, and I think families are cancer-prone. There isn't one good thing about having a cigarette. The president- elect should do himself and his family a favor and take up yoga. The deep breathing is far more beneficial for relieving stress. I hope he doesn't kid himself thinking playing basketball counteracts the bad effects of smoking.
If the country were completely done with cigarettes, health care may be more affordable.

[LittleRedHenSez]

Good for your husband and good luck with his health. I know my parents would have been with us much longer if their smoking hadn't affected their health. I want PEO to feel good and stay healthy.

[EDJ]

Good post until you said " If the country were completely done with cigarettes, health care may be more affordable." If that's the route you want to go then you should ration everyone's caloric intake. Overweight people are raising health care costs as much, if not more, than smokers.

[judyc]

Agreed--

[Marcospinelli]

FYI: Cigarette manufacturers put ammonia in cigarettes as it's more effective in delivering the nicotine into your bloodstream.

When I began to reek of ammonia, and didn't know why, I learned that fact and finally quit smoking. I was so enraged when I learned how the cigarette industry was adulterating cigarettes, it got breaking one of the hardest addictions known to man much easier.

The tobacco company executives who signed off on putting other chemicals into cigarettes ought to be in prison.

[eden4barack08]

FDR smoked and got us thru a depression. Obama has to get us thru a recession (for now), I say let him light up if he needs to relax every now and then.
But I would suggest cigars instead of cigarettes.

[TheStudentPundit]

I saw something interesting here:
"Website www.cigaraficionado.com says Gerald Ford, who served from 1974-77, was the last U.S. president to use tobacco on a regular basis. The White House no-smoking rule was imposed by former First Lady Hillary Clinton, now Obama's nominee for secretary of state."

OH SNAP! So like Amy Poelher said, Hillary gets the last laugh!

lol

[randyjet]

HELL I can understand why Hillary imposed the ban after she found out what BILLY had been using them for! No wonder tobacco got banned.

[eden4barack08]

LOL, good one.

[frantaylor]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[FreetoBme]

Sadly, Obama did not say he would not smoke in the White House.
He was very clear (and evasive), he said; "You will not see any violations of those rules".
A lot different than he was going to quit.
As one who finally won the "just one more", I give him all my support, but he did fudge.

[frantaylor]

The word "quit" does not appear in the article, but only in your comment.

[Oceanus]

And adding to what I previously wrote....modern tabacco with all its chemicals may have no ill-affect on our president - elect as his genetic make-up may keep him safe. Let him alone and let him enjoy this one assumed vice as considered by some. Worry and internal unresolved strifes can contribute more to illness than what we eat or drink or inhale.

[frantaylor]

Who put what in your kool-aid?

[instarx]

Although a strange argument to use in favor of an occasional smoke, Oceanus does have the facts right. Stress is known to greatly increase the risks of many diseases, including cancer. An occasional cigarette to lower stress might result in a lower overall risk of cancer for any individual (given individual genetic predispositions) . There is no evidence but it is plausible.

[bloominglater]

i think we should all be rooting for PEBO. Like many of us who are trying to quit, it's a daily struggle. i quit last night and then started again before the end of the day. it's difficult, but we'll all get there. PEBO will get there and so will we!

[SCVADem]

It'll be 7 weeks this Wednesday for me and at least once a day, that craving hits really, really hard. Thank goodness for the lozenges.

[bling]

you rule!

[Cigar2]

Heck,

If President Elect Obama want to still consume Tobacco he should switch to cigars. That what he should do and I'm not talking about those flavored machine made cigars either.
I'm talking about the many fine hand rolled cigars form the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras.
These cigars all natural that made tobaccos that are aged for years and that employ thousand of people in these countries many of woman.
Cigar would be prefect for him to relax with after his day of work is over. During his time has President of are Nation during these trouble times we face.
If cigars work for Churchill, Twain and Goucho Marx they can't be all that bad.

[elcojonu]

Bring down the embargo and let's start smoking the real things from Cuba without going thru the hassle and expense of getting them from someone who's selling them as if they were gold bars.
Also, you need at least 30 minutes to smoke a short stick, he won't have the luxury of that kind of time during the day hours.

[bling]

or english smokes

[Oceanus]

The truth is it is not pure organic tabacco that is unhealthy, but tabacco that has chemicals added to it that wrecks havoc on our health.

Give Obama pure organic American Indian Tabacco and let him enjoy it in peace. He deserves this assumed vice.

Organic pure tabacco holds no harm as an organic vegetable or fruit holds no harm, but add all the man-made chemicals that restructure its composition and infiltrates our bodies and we are opening ourselves to toxic chemicals that will promote illness based on our genetic make-up and the tolerance we each can bear within our toxic society. We each have a threshold that has a tipping point - once reached - we are affected in ways as never before.

The E.I. Syndrome and Rx for Environmental Illness - Sherry A Rogers, M.D.
Toxic or Tired, Sherry A Roger, M.D.

President Elect - " Please switch to pure organic tabacco and relax and enjoy....you deserve every moment of it."

Let's re-awaken the American Indian tradition of the peace pipe.

[DaveC19]

Wrong, all smoke inhaled into the lungs is a health hazard. Smoke is an irritant to lung tissue no matter if organic or not.

Saying organic smoke is Ok is like saying organic botulism is ok because it is doesn't have "man-made" chemicals in it.

Nice try.

[elcojonu]

Your on to something.
American cigarette makers add salt pete( potassium nitrate ) and nicotine extract to their blends in order to keep you as a customer.
There are some brands out there( mostly foreign ) that don't do that.
Find the one you like and use it in moderation and you should be allright.

[instarx]

Baloney. cancer studies linking tobacco and cancer have been done with unadulterated tobacco, and the link to cancer is still there. Additives may increase the risk, but the risk is still there.