Legal Commentary

Obama Signs Anti-Tobacco Bill, Mentions Own Stuggle

By Jeralyn

President Obama signed the anti-tobacco bill today. He mentioned his own struggle with smoking.

But he didn't say how his own struggle was coming since he moved into the White House. And aides were no more forthcoming.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says Obama "struggles with it every day." An aide says they still pack Nicorette for him. [More...]

And though White House aides pack nicotine gum in their jackets to help him resist, they also refuse to give a clear answer to the question of whether the president still sneaks a smoke now and again.

Obama says he was never a heavy smoker, just 5 cigarettes a day.

"I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told The Chicago Tribune in 2007. "I've quit periodically over the last several years. ... I've been chewing Nicorette strenuously."

Strenous Nicorette chewing and a continual struggle for 5 cigarettes a day? Sounds a little over the top, no? Good for him for addressing the problem, but it sounds to me like he's minimizing the amount he used to smoke.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 22, 2009 (boomark / email).