Five Years In: Obama Talks Race, Pot

Five years has a way of changing a president in more ways than a graying scalp.

Barack Obama, who was sworn into office half a decade ago, has had his fair share of ups and downs during his historic time in the Oval Office - including the passage of the Affordable Care Act (good), the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (bad), his full-fledged support of gay rights (good), his bungling of Syria (bad), and his middle-of-the-road stance on the legalization of marijuana (neutral). An admitted smoker himself in younger years, Obama discourages his own teenaged daughters from picking up the habit but is welcoming efforts in states like Colorado and Washington to bring pot into the mainstream, if only to promote decriminalization and lessen the imbalanced sting of jail sentences for poor and minority youths.

"Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do,'' Obama told interviewer David Remnick. ''And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties.''

In a candid response, Obama cited his own race as part of his unpopularity within certain factions of society, as well as a reason why others remain steadfast in the belief they attached to him starting at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and continuing through his whirlwind 2008 presidential campaign.

There's no doubt that there's some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black President," Obama offers. "Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I'm a black President."