Fake: Photo of Obama With 420 Sign

Misbar’s investigation found that the original photo was actually from a 2015 trip to Alaska. We conducted a reverse image search and discovered that in the original photo, Obama stands next to a sign that says “1961.”

The caption to the post uploaded to the Obama White House Instagram page reads: “Markers throughout Exit Glacier show how much it's receded over time. The impacts of climate change are real, and the people of Alaska are living with them every day. It's never been more important for us to work together to address this challenge. -bo.”

Many social media users saw the image as an opportunity to engage in a little photoshop humor. Beyond the 420 photoshop, the image has also been digitally manipulated to portray other messages. 

Obama was famously the first president to acknowledge smoking cannabis and inhaling. “That was the point,” he said, in contrast to Former President Bill Clinton’s allegation that he “didn’t inhale.” 

The claim about the 420 sign was perhaps exacerbated by the recently released song “Gang Signs,” in which rapper Snoop Dogg implies that he smoked marijuana with Obama. 

Although it’s possible that Obama tokes up from time to time, since the image was digitally manipulated, we rate this claim as false.