Photo of Obama Smoking

Pictures of Barack Obama smoking emerge in Time magazine | World News | News.com.au

CIGARETTE clamped between thumb and finger, a louche Barack Obama leans back with playful eyes and draws smoke into his lungs.

When he agreed to model for an aspiring photographer's portfolio, the prospect of this image re-emerging 28 years later as he prepared to enter the White House probably never crossed his mind.

Back then, he was a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, struggling with his racial identity and, by his own admission, experimenting with drugs, The Australian reports.

These days he can claim to be the fittest president-elect in history, working out six days a week with a gym regime that some suspect borders on the obsessive. But he is still trying to kick cigarettes.

Time magazine, naming Mr Obama as its Person of the Year, yesterday published the long-lost pictures with the photographer, Lisa Jack, saying they showed a "spirit of fun and thoughtfulness" in the president-elect. She added that she remembered him as "really cute".
The film, she said, was kept locked in a safe during the election campaign so that it could not be used for political purposes. Polls have suggested that his smoking habit was a bigger barrier to him getting elected than his skin colour.

Although Mr Obama was careful to avoid being photographed smoking on the campaign trail, he has acknowledged in recent interviews that despite promising to quit "there were times where I have fallen off the wagon".

Under pressure from his wife, Michelle, Mr Obama claims that his daily intake has fallen from a peak of seven or eight to rare occasions when he has "bummed one" from an aide.

His on-off battle with cigarettes is facing another deadline - January 20, inauguration day - because smoking is banned in the White House.

Asked if he would be able to cope, Mr Obama said: "What I would say is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself much healthier, and I think that you will not see any violations of these rules."