Politics | Barack Obama Obama Drug Use Minimal: Old Friends Candor about teenage 'bad decisions' may have been overstated By Jane Yager Posted Feb 9, 2008 7:07 AM CST Copied Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes remarks during a news conference following a tour of the McKinstry Company, Friday, Feb. 8, 2008, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (Associated Press) In his memoir Barack Obama makes a rare admission—for a politician—of “some bad decisions” as a teenager, of indulging in drinking and drugs before political activism led him out of apathy. But friends remember an already-focused Obama: an eloquent, poised young intellectual, active against South African apartheid and moderate in his lifestyle. "He was not even close to being a party animal," a college friend tells the New York Times. In a piece examining whether Obama might have overstated his coming-of-age challenges, college classmates say, "If someone passed him a joint, he would take a drag," but he never seemed to be grappling with drug problems. “As far as pot, booze or coke being a prevalent part of his life, I doubt it,” said a high school friend, who admits he pressured his classmate into drinking beer. Read These Next Doctor left her Alaskan cruise and never returned. At least 13 people are dead in Texas flooding. Extremely rare bat-borne virus claims a human life. Kyiv was subjected to 7 hours of 'terror.' Report an error