WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The potential presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has led some to theorize his admitted past drug use may receive fresh scrutiny.
The Illinois Democrat, who detailed his past use of marijuana and cocaine in he book "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," which was written several years before the senator began his political career, could become the first presidential candidate to openly admit to use of the substances, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
"Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man... I got high (to) push questions of who I was out of my mind," Obama wrote.
"This is not the kind of book you would ever expect a politician to write," GOP consultant Alex Vogel said of Obama's book. "Anyone who has a career in politics has to be concerned with what's in their past, but there is no question that Americans have an appetite for redemption."
Independent political analyst Rhodes Cook said voters in the Democratic primary would likely be understanding of Obama's past drug use and "if he makes it to a general election, it will be old news."
