Rob Ford on pot: 'I've smoked a lot'

Rob Ford has statedhe does "not use crack cocaine,nor [is he]an addict of crack cocaine," but he has smoked a lot of marijuana.

The Toronto mayor, who has been accused of having a substance abuse problem,casually announcedhe has used the drug as he left a luncheon eventtoday. He is the third Canadian politician in a week to admit tomarijuana consumption.

"Oh yeah, I won't deny that. I've smoked a lot of it," he laughed.

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Reporters put the question to Ford because earlier in the day Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said she smoked marijuana 35 years ago, before she got into politics.

Wynne addressed marijuana use because her federal counterpart, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, told a reporter a week ago thathe had smoked marijuana while serving as amember of Parliament.

Ford's lightheartedconfession comes after months of speculation that the mayor may have a substance abuse problem.In March,a video was being shopped around to media outlets that allegedly showed Ford smokingcrack cocaine. A few weeks ago, the mayor appeared to beintoxicated at a Toronto street festival and has made a few otherappearances where his sobriety was in question.

In 1999, when Ford was visiting Florida, he was arrested for impaired driving. He was found with a marijuana joint in his back pocket.