Toronto Mayor Rob Ford finally admits smoking crack cocaine

The mayor of Toronto yesterday (Tuesday) admitted to smoking crack cocaine during a "drunken stupor".

Rob Ford, who has spent the past six months refusing to comment on reports that he was filmed using the drug, finally confessed during a press conference. "Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine," said Ford. "But do I? Am I an addict? No. It is what it is, and I can't change the past."

Asked when he had used the drug, he replied: "Probably in one of my drunken stupors, approximately about a year ago. Yes, I made mistakes, and all I can do now is apologise." Ford, who has one year of his four-year term remaining, faced renewed calls to resign after his admission and was criticised by city councillors. Bill Blair, the Canadian city's police chief, said last week that his officers had obtained the video clip, which a drug dealer had tried to sell to the media. "As a citizen of the city, I am disappointed," he added.

Ford, a 44-year-old conservative independent, admitted on Sunday that he "drank a little too much at times". Yesterday he asked to see the video, saying he could not remember it. He played down his about-turn on the subject, claiming that the media had only asked whether he was an addict, rather than whether he had ever smoked the drug. "I wasn't lying, you didn't ask the correct questions," he said.