OBAMA ON DRUGS: Jacob Sullum looks at prospects for an end to the drug war.

Yet President-elect Barack Obama has retreated from his support for marijuana decriminalization, and his position on medical marijuana remains ambiguous. His reticence on these issues suggests he may disappoint those who hope the Obama administration will move drug policy in a less punitive, more tolerant direction.

One cause for that hope: Obama has been more candid about his own youthful drug use than any president in U.S. history. Although he portrays his pot smoking and cocaine snorting as behavior he regrets, it would be hard for him to justify harsh treatment of drug users when he himself escaped punishment for the same actions and clearly is better off than he would have been had he been arrested.

Given his experiences, it’s not surprising that during his 2004 Senate campaign Obama told students at Northwestern University, “I think we need to…decriminalize our marijuana laws.” But this year he backed away from that position. His campaign claimed he really meant “we are sending far too many first-time, nonviolent drug users to prison for very long periods of time,” and “we should rethink those laws.”

In this, as in so many things, it’s hard to figure out what his real position is, and how he’ll act once in office. Plus, Rahm Emanuel’s drug-warrior record.