Obama: Pot no more dangerous than alcohol

William M. Welch, USA TODAY11:12 a.m. EST January 20, 2014

"...I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice," he tells 'The New Yorker.'

President Obama says marijuana use is no more dangerous than alcohol, though he regards it as a bad habit he hopes his children will avoid.

"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life,'' he said in a magazine interview. "I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol."

He said marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.''

GRAPHIC: How times have changed for marijuana and tobacco

"It's not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy," he said.

Obama made his remarks in a series of interviews with The New Yorker, which published a story about the conversations in its Jan. 27 issue and on its website.

Marijuana remains illegal to possess or sell under federal law, although Colorado and Washington have adopted state laws making it legal to possess and use small amounts. A number of states have decriminalized the weed and authorized it for medical uses.

Obama said he was troubled by the disproportionate arrests and imprisonment of minorities on marijuana charges.

"Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do," he said. "And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties.

FULL STORY: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/19/obama-mariju...