Barack Obama and Cannabis: Choom Gang, Cole Memo and Policy

Barack Obama has been unusually open about smoking marijuana as a teenager in Hawaii, and his record on it as president points two ways. His Justice Department told prosecutors to step back from state-legal cannabis, first with the Ogden memo in 2009 and then the Cole memo in 2013, and he said publicly that he did not consider marijuana more dangerous than alcohol. But marijuana stayed in Schedule I, the most restricted federal category, for all eight years. We found no comment from him on the 2026 change to that classification.

Barack Obama and cannabis at a glance

Own use	Described in his 1995 memoir; detailed in a 2012 biography as the “Choom Gang” at Punahou School, Honolulu
Ogden memo	Oct 19, 2009: prosecutors told not to focus on people complying with state medical marijuana laws
Cole memo	Aug 29, 2013: Justice Department would not challenge legalization in Colorado and Washington
Medical marijuana rider	Signed Dec 16, 2014, as part of a spending bill; bars the Justice Department from spending money to block state medical programs
Scheduling	Marijuana remained in Schedule I; the DEA denied rescheduling petitions on Aug 11, 2016
Clemency	1,715 commutations and 212 pardons across all offenses, per Justice Department statistics
Position on legalization	Supported treating it as a public health issue; did not endorse full federal legalization

Every item on this page is taken from the public record and linked in the sources below. Page updated Oct 10, 2026.

Table of Contents

The Choom Gang

Obama wrote about his own drug use before he ran for anything. In his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father, he said that marijuana and alcohol, and occasionally cocaine, were part of his teenage years, and later described those choices as mistakes.

The detail came from David Maraniss’s 2012 biography, Barack Obama: The Story. At Punahou School in Honolulu in the late 1970s, Obama and a group of friends called themselves the Choom Gang, after a slang word for smoking marijuana. They had rules: “total absorption” meant holding the smoke in, and “roof hits” meant smoking in a closed car and inhaling what collected under the ceiling. Their Volkswagen bus was the Choomwagon.

He never played it down. Asked by a group of magazine editors in 2006 whether he had inhaled, a reference to Bill Clinton’s famous denial, he said that he had, often, and that inhaling was the point.

What his administration did

The Ogden memo (2009). In October 2009 the Justice Department told federal prosecutors not to spend resources on people who were in clear compliance with their state’s medical marijuana law.

The Cole memo (2013). After Colorado and Washington voted to legalize adult use, the department announced on Aug 29, 2013, that it would not sue to block them, and set out eight enforcement priorities, such as keeping marijuana away from minors and out of other states. Marijuana remained illegal under federal law.

The medical marijuana rider (2014). In December 2014 Obama signed a spending bill containing the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which bars the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere with state medical marijuana programs.

Clemency. He commuted 1,715 federal sentences, by the Justice Department’s count, many of them through a clemency initiative aimed at nonviolent drug offenders.

What his administration did not do

It did not reschedule marijuana. On Aug 11, 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration rejected two petitions to move it out of Schedule I, while agreeing to license more growers for research. An earlier petition had been denied in 2011.

Obama also stopped short of calling for legalization. In a January 2014 interview with The New Yorker he called marijuana a bad habit and a vice, said of it, “I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” and pointed out that poor and minority users were far more likely to be jailed for it than middle-class ones. In his exit interview with Rolling Stone in November 2016 he said it should be treated as a public health issue, the way cigarettes and alcohol are, and added that legalization was not a cure-all.

In the news: the 2026 rescheduling, and how his record compares

The step his administration declined to take has now been taken in part. President Trump signed an executive order on Dec 18, 2025, directing the Justice Department to finish rescheduling, and in April 2026 state-licensed medical marijuana moved to Schedule III.

A Newsweek analysis of April 25, 2026, set that move against the records of earlier presidents. Its summary of Obama’s is the one above: the Ogden and Cole memos lowered the priority of federal enforcement in legal states, while cannabis stayed in Schedule I and rescheduling petitions were denied in 2011 and 2016.

We did not find any comment from Obama on the change. His most recent remark on the subject that we could locate is a passing joke in his 2020 memoir, A Promised Land.

Strains named after him

Presidents end up on dispensary menus whether they like it or not. When we read 32 licensed New York City menus on Oct 8, 2026, a flower sold simply as Obama was on one Manhattan menu at $38 per eighth, and Obama Runtz was on one in the Bronx at $53. Trump Runtz was on a Manhattan menu at $55. None has any connection to the men themselves.

Barack Obama and marijuana: FAQ

Did Barack Obama smoke weed?

Yes. He wrote about using marijuana as a teenager in his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father, and told magazine editors in 2006 that he had inhaled frequently.

What was the Choom Gang?

It was the name Obama and his friends at Punahou School in Honolulu gave themselves in the late 1970s, according to David Maraniss’s 2012 biography. Choom was their slang for smoking marijuana.

Did Obama legalize marijuana?

No. Marijuana stayed in Schedule I throughout his presidency. His Justice Department issued the Ogden memo in 2009 and the Cole memo in 2013, which told federal prosecutors to step back from state-legal cannabis.

What was the Cole memo?

A Justice Department memo of Aug 29, 2013, announcing that the federal government would not challenge legalization in Colorado and Washington, and listing eight enforcement priorities for prosecutors.

What has Obama said about marijuana and alcohol?

In a January 2014 New Yorker interview he said he did not think marijuana was more dangerous than alcohol, while also calling it a bad habit and a vice.

Sources

For adults 21 and over. This page reports what people have said and done on the public record; it is not medical or legal advice. Our New York cannabis guide covers the current rules in New York.

Just Weed Strains Staff

The Just Weed Strains editorial team writes our strain profiles and consumer guides. Strain profiles summarize publicly available information, including breeder and dispensary descriptions. Effects vary from person to person, and nothing on this site is medical advice.

Barack Obama and Cannabis: From the Choom Gang to the Cole Memo