Potheads greet head of state in Denver

Denver residents greeting the presidential motorcade appeared to be rooting for President Obama to get mile-high in more way than one.

As the cars wound into downtown Denver shortly after Air Force One touched down, one group of onlookers waved a “Free weed for Obama” sign at the presidential limo.

{mosads}Obama, who has spoken bluntly in recent months about his marijuana use as a teenager, appeared to tacitly endorse a Colorado referendum that legalized marijuana in the state during an interview published in the New Yorker in January. 

In the story, Obama said of the experiment in Colorado and Washington that it was “important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.”

In the same interview, Obama said he did not think pot was more dangerous than alcohol, although said he still saw use as “a bad habit and a vice.”

But the president later told CNN that “what is and isn’t a Schedule I narcotic is a job for Congress.” And former White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama meant to convey his concern over disproportionate arrests of and sentences for minorities possessing the drug.

“There’s no question that we’ve applied our drug laws in a way that has been counterproductive,” Carney said.

If Obama did decide to partake while visiting Colorado, his first stop offered him plenty of snacking options.

The president was joined by five Colorado residents at the Wazee Supper Club, a restaurant in downtown Denver specializing in pizza, stromboli and sandwiches.

The individuals dining with Obama all wrote the president about economic policies the White House has sought to highlight in recent months. 

They included a worker at a local upholstery store who saw her pay hiked after Obama’s call to raise the minimum wage during his State of the Union Address, a college student taking advantage of federal student loans, a couple who used Small Business Association loans to expand their local sandwich chain, and a teacher who wrote the president about early childhood education.

The event is the first of a series of stops during Obama’s three-day swing through Colorado and Texas intended to highlight administrative actions he’s taken through the first six months of 2014.