Toronto Mayor Rob Ford finally cracks, admits to usking drugs in a 'drunken stupor'

TORONTO Mayor Rob Ford has finally admitted that he smoked crack cocaine about a year ago in a \"drunken stupor\".

Mr Ford today walked out of his office and asked reporters to ask him the question they first asked him in May. A reporter asked Mr Ford if he had smoked crack cocaine. Mr Ford responded:

\"Exactly. Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,\" Mr Ford said. \"I"ve made mistakes in the past … I can"t change the past. I can apologise. But it is what it is.\"

\"Am I an addict? No.\"

\"Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago.\"

Mr Ford had denied being a \"crack addict\" after reports of a video that showed him smoking crack cocaine first appeared in Gawker and the Toronto Star. Mr Ford initially insisted the video didn't exist and sidestepped questions about whether he had ever smoked crack. He was forced to backtrack after police said last week they had obtained a copy of the video, which has not been released publicly.

\"I don't use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,\" Ford told reporters at a press conference in May. \"I have been judged by the media without any evidence.\"

Mr Ford today denied lying about his crack smoking.

\"I wasn"t lying, you didn"t ask the correct question,\" he said.

As reporters tried to ask where and how often he used crack, Mr Ford suggested he was too drunk to recall details.

\"You guys kept referring to alcohol, there was a couple of isolated incidents, there's been times when I've been in a drunken stupor, that's why I want to see the tape,\" he said. \"I want everyone in the city to see the tape. I'd like to see this tape. I don't even recall there being a tape or a video.\"

Mr Ford previously apologised for excessive drinking and other mistakes but has rebuffed pressure to step down. He had sidestepped questions about whether he has ever smoked crack until now.

Earlier, Mr Ford's brother, Doug, criticized Police Chief Bill Blair for saying he was \"disappointed\" in the mayor. Doug Ford called the chief's comments \"inappropriate\" and \"biased\" and said Mr Blair should step aside.

\"We have the most political police chief we have ever seen,\" said Doug Ford, a Toronto City Councillor. \"The police chief believes he's the judge, the jury and the executioner.\"

Mr Blair says he responded honestly when asked about his feelings after watching the video.

Another city councilor, John Filion, called Doug Ford's attack against the police chief :appalling\" and said the Ford brothers have \"crossed the line with not only the alleged behaviour, the lack of comment on the behaviour, and now attacking the people brought some of that behavior to light.\"

The allegations about Mr Ford smoking crack surfaced when two reporters with the Toronto Star and one from the US website Gawker said they saw the video but they did not obtain a copy.

Mr Ford vilified the Toronto Star, accusing the paper of trying to take him down.

Municipal law makes no provision for the mayor's forced removal from office unless he's convicted and jailed for a criminal offence. Several members of City Council are moving to strip some of his powers with a motion that would restrict the mayor's ability to remove people from his executive committee and other standing committees.

Police have not charged Mr Ford. The mayor has called on the chief to release the tape, but police said they are prohibited from doing so because it is evidence before the courts.

Police said the video will come out when Mr Ford's associate and occasional driver, Alexander Lisi, goes to trial on drug and extortion charges. Mr Lisi is accused of threatening two alleged gang members who had been trying to sell the video to the media.

Police have said they want to talk to the mayor, but his lawyer so far has declined.