Rob Ford: 'I Have Smoked Crack Cocaine'

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has admitted to smoking crack cocaine after police announced last week that they had obtained a much-speculated-upon video of Ford smoking a crack pipe.

“Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,” Ford said at a press conference in Toronto Tuesday.

After admitting to smoking crack, Ford stressed that he was not an addict but that he simply accepted crack offered to him during one of his many “drunken stupors.”

“Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago," Ford continued.

He estimated that he last smoked crack “about a year ago” but stated that he has no specific recollection of the times he has used the drug.

“I don’t even remember,” Ford said before adding that he wants Toronto police to release the video of him smoking crack cocaine.

"There's been times when I've been in a drunken stupor," Ford continued. "That's why I want to see this tape. Why I want the entire city to see the tape. I want to see what state I was in. I'd like to see this tape. I don't even recall there being a tape."

When asked if he had lied about his crack usage in the past, Ford claimed that he was not lying when he denied smoking crack, instead claiming that reporters “didn’t ask the correct questions.”

Ford said, "I wasn't lying. You didn't ask the correct questions. No, I am not an addict. And no, I do not do drugs. I made mistakes in the past and all I can do is apologize, but it is what it is. I can't change the past. I apologize to my family, my friends, my colleagues, and the people of this great city."

Earlier on Tuesday, two Toronto city council members made an effort to limit Ford’s powers in a motion that will be debated throughout December.

"It appears that a majority of members of council and a significant number of members of the executive committee have expressed serious concerns about the mayor's ability to lead the city government at this time," the motion reads according to the Globe and Mail.

Last Thursday, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced that his department is investigating Ford for drug use, and that he had personally watched a widely speculated-upon video showing Ford smoking crack. The Toronto Star reported on the video’s existence in May, and at the time, Ford denied that such a video had ever been filmed.