[NonValueAdded]

Absolutely wrong thing to say to teenagers. To the adult mind it would come out as “don’t repeat my mistake.” To the teenager, it means “blah, blah, I did so you can too.” Seriously.

[Sopater]

Absolutely wrong thing to say to teenagers. To the adult mind it would come out as “don’t repeat my mistake.” To the teenager, it means “blah, blah, I did so you can too.” Seriously.

You've got a great point. Teenagers will hear that and think, "Obama did it and he turned out alright". However, I also believe in telling teenagers the truth about prior drug use. Fist-hand experience can be good to impart to teenagers, but the focus has to be on the struggles that come with trying to recover life after wasting it on drug use, and having to live with some of the ongoing consequences of bad decisions. I didn't see Obama say anything about that. He didn't mention any adverse consequences besides "wasted time".