Obama: Marijuana “No More Dangerous Than Alcohol”

Obama shared his views on the timely issue of marijuana use and its legalization in an interview with The New Yorker on Sunday.

“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. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol," Obama told The New Yorker's David Remnick. Obama was careful to explain that he doesn't endorse use of marijuana, however.  "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."

With regards to the legalization of marijuana, Obama is heavily on the side of reforming marijuana laws and their enforcement. "We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing," he said.

Obama also expressed his support of Colorado and Washington's decision to legalize marijuana use. “It's important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished," he said.