White House: Not Smoking A Struggle For Obama

WASHINGTON — The White House press secretary says President Barack Obama still struggles with a nicotine addiction, but the spokesman would not say whether the president still smokes cigarettes.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked about the matter Friday, the same day in which Obama talked of tobacco's deadly effects and hailed the passage of bill that boosts regulation of smoking. In the past, Obama has spoken about the difficulty of quitting cigarettes.

Gibbs said that Obama's response about smoking would be that quitting the addiction is a lifelong struggle.

Asked directly if Obama still smokes, Gibbs said: "I would simply tell you I think struggling with a nicotine addiction is something that happens every day."

(This version CORRECTS last quote to 'addiction' not 'addition.')

Comments

[DontselltheUS]

I applaud President Obama for his recent Tobacco Bill.
As far as his smoking, it is a non-issue for me. It's not illegal.
Lots of people are private smokers.

[Jude55807]

man gets a letter from obama encouraging him to stop smoking, http://bestchancestopsmoking.com/?p=4101

[jsarets]

We should send cigarette addicts on extended missions to lunar or mars outposts -- without any cigarettes.

Here's the logic: It would be irresponsible to send non-smokers on extended missions beyond Earth's magnetosphere, because the radiation exposure would increase their risk of cancer by about 1%. But if we sent smokers without cigarettes, quitting would reduce their risk of cancer by far more than the radiation exposure would increase it.

A stay at the lunar or mars nicotine addition outpost can be a compelling way for incredibly rich smokers to kick their habit. Not only are would they be hundreds of thousands if not millions of miles from the nearest cigarette, but they'd have to adjust to a new daily routine involving reduced gravity and little to no atmospheric pressure, and the exciting opportunity to experience an alien world would distract from the lack of cigarettes.

[pearlx2]

It is a real tragedy and shame that we've let Big Tobacco get away with deliberately selling addiction to people in the form of cigarettes. This is a crime which should have very big consequences; instead, we let them continue to operate in this country as though they are selling chewing gum or something, when it fact they put nicotine in the cigarettes knowing full well how addictive the stuff is, with the deliberate purpose of getting people hooked so they can continue to sell more cigarettes. Because they have so much money, our lawmakers will never vote to outlaw cigarettes. It is insane.

[Cosmic-Zantor]

The government has no business preventing us from smoking if we want. People aren't robots, they make their own choices. If they choose to smoke, it's a bad choice, but they have a right to make it.

[chevyval]

Hypnosis with a great hypnotist. You have to go way under.
It works.

[Steven Anderson]

So he smokes?!? I started when I was 40 and didn't realize what I was missing. Yeah Yeah, I know. I will maybe die 4-5 years earlier but in 100 years I will be dead whether I smoked or not so why not enjoy it while you can. If I was him I wouldn't hide it. Just do it.

[66rock]

Geeze, this is just none of our business.

[1088]

It's better for him to crave cigs than crave women to relieve stress. Let the man smoke!

[RexOzone]

It seems to make it easier to quit if you remember two things:
Quitting the act of smoking only eliminates the cigarette, not the craving.
You crave cigarettes just as much if not more when you continue the habit than as you do if you simply "jones" without the act. So why not cut out the part of the process that edifies the miserable industry that seeks to control you?
Second, using anger against the industry that controls you by refusing support their habit of degrading human health has helped me to resist a cigarette for now fifteen years, but you know I'd still like to huff one about three feet long anyhow, even now.
You gots to just live with it. Feel the burn. Rediscover your taste buds.

[alabaman]

I know he promised MIchelle he would quit, but if smoking relieves what has got to be an enormously stressful job, let him puff away He can always quit later.

[Aabby]

It has not been so for me but everyone is different. I smoked for 11 years from 16 years old to 27 and a pack a day for most of those years. I struggled to quit a few times and failed. Once I really did it however, and a few months passed, it was gone...out of my system completely and now I even don’t mind when people smoke around me. Its simply not an issue. No carving, no thoughts of it at all for more than 3 years. Though I did gain 10 pounds but a small price to pay. But i don’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders either...G­ood luck Mr. President.

[mixer08]

I sincerely wish Mr. President the very best at quitting this deadly habit. He is a young man with a beautiful family. I hope that Malia and Sasha get to plan their parents 60th wedding anniversary.

[onepotatotwopotato]

It seems that Hitler was a smoker in his youth but at some stage he became aware of its health hazards and, when in power (perhaps with the zeal of a convert), appeared to detest tobacco, which he called "the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man, vengeance for having been given hard liquor." But the antismoking campaign reflected "a national political climate stressing the virtues of racial hygiene and bodily purity" as well as the Fuhrer's personal prejudices. The same could be said of Nazi efforts to discourage drinking and encourage a better diet.

The state performer in antismoking propaganda was Adolf Hitler. As one magazine put it: "brother national socialist, do you know that our Führer is against smoking and think that every German is responsible to the whole people for all his deeds and emissions, and does not have the right to damage his body with drugs?"

[badtimes]

I think AH was into astrology also. What's your point?

[Cosmic-Zantor]

What possible relevance is this?

[HarlemFreeThought]

Dear Mr. President.
I too have been a smoker for so many years I have lost count. It was a routine visit to my dr. who said, "look either you quit or some other forces will make you quit. That was last year. So far I have not touch a cigarette, and have developed a disguise at the smell of smoke. Your a strong and disciplined individual, Yes you can leave them behind. For me it was one of the greatest achievements in my life to quit smoking.

[dansup]

quit smoking and start vaping!

E-cigs deliver the nicotine through vapor you enhale and you get none of the 4000+ additives the tobacco companies hock.

worth a try.......­..........­....

[progressiveevangelic]

two things work excellently.

1. Create an identity of being a NON SMOKER, see yourself as a person running down the beach without any cigarette smoke damage in your lungs, imagine you are either a young model (pick a movie star or a person you see as healthy) or a famous actor or athelete in perfect health.

This is the big thing, to creat an IDENTITY of non smoking. That smoking is NOT SEXY or sophisticated, or worthy of admiring. Usually smokers have some old image of someone who they emualate, thinking they are sexy or sophisticated or intelligent or thougthful, and it is deep in their minds.


2. Hypnosis. It is absolutely powerful AND EFFORTLESS. I made a bet with my father who smoked two packs of Pall Malls a day for thirty seven years that he could quit with hypnosis. He went to a group meeting for hypnosis in a Holliday Inn and hasn't smoked for many years. It works, you don't do it.