Barack Obama gets offered cannabis in Colorado bar, laughs it off: 'You wanna hit this?'

The state legalised the drug in 2012

Obama was amused by the offer (Instagram)

President Barack Obama faced a potentially awkward situation in a Denver, Colorado bar this week, when he was offered a joint by a passer-by.

Marijuana is of course now legal in the state, so he risked looking a little hypocritical if he took offence to the offer, but wouldn’t have looked very presidential if he'd taken a massive hit either.

Obama avoided any awkward silence however, immediately laughing and offering the man a smile before moving on to more handshakes.

The moment was caught on camera and swiftly Instagrammed, where it has attracted thousands of likes.

According to a biography from Pulitzer-winning author David Maraniss, Obama was quite partial to pot in his younger day.

As a member of the "Choom Gang" he introducing a number of techniques and rules during smoking sessions.

"When a joint was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted 'Intercepted!,' and took an extra hit," Maraniss claimed.

Obama allegedly also popularised "roof hits", which, when smoking in a car, would see him lean back and "suck the last bit of smoke from the ceiling" when the weed had ran out.

He certainly takes a more liberal approach to the drug than Bill Clinton, who infamously admitted to having tried marijuana but insisted he "didn't inhale".