WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has finally done what millions of fellow Americans are still struggling to achieve — he has given up smoking.
“Yes, he has,” his wife, Michelle, said Tuesday at the White House when asked whether he had conquered a nicotine habit that began when he was a teenager.
“It’s been almost a year,” she said, offering no details on exactly when or how he quit.
But is the breakup with tobacco final? One in five adults, about 46 million people, still smoke, and brain research shows that nicotine is powerfully addictive. Three out of four smokers who try to kick the habit relapse within six months, and repeated attempts often are required to quit long term, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Obama, who has one of the world’s most stressful jobs, has walked this tobacco road before. He announced in February 2008, during his presidential campaign, that he was quitting smoking — again.
