President Obama should re-think his cannabis policies and understand that he was very fortunate to not have a marijuana arrest derail his future. Others are not so lucky.

Author David Maraniss’ biography of President Barack Obama,”Barack Obama: The Story,” will be published in June, but President Obama’s cannabis use in his younger days has already hit the web.  BuzzFeed has an extensive rundown of his past cannabis use.  The fact that the future president hung out in a pot-smoking crew, called the Choom Gang, that rode around in their Choomwagon smoking Maui Wowi is not exactly surprising, and wouldn’t really be that newsworthy if President Obama would not have laughed off the issue of ending cannabis prohibition and would not have gone back on his campaign promise to stop raiding medical marijuana providers operating within their state’s medical law.  In fact, President Obama is arguably the worst president in history for medical cannabis policy. He has continued, and even exacerbated, the federal war on marijuana.

While President Obama has reached out to his liberal base by touting his support for women’s rights, marriage equality and student loan aid, President Obama would surely help his re-election chances if he would stop federal raids against medical marijuana states—a policy favored by a super-majority of American voters. Alternatively, he could instead call for legalizing cannabis similar to alcohol—a position now favored by a strong majority of Americans, according to a recent Rasmussen Poll. Other Rasmussen polls show Romney running virtually even with the President. As more details of his extensive marijuana use becomes known, President Obama’s hypocritical position on cannabis could become a serious political liability that could even cost him his re-election.  It is not too late for President Obama to “evolve” to a more sensible cannabis policy that will allow our country to better prioritize fighting serious and violent crime instead of arresting, prosecuting and jailing cannabis users who may not be as lucky at avoiding serious legal consequences as the young Barack Obama.