TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, his attorney said Wednesday. Dennis Morris said he spoke to Ford Wednesday and that Ford has accepted that he has a problem.
“He acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem, and he wants to do something about it,” Morris said.
The announcement comes as The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Wednesday that it had viewed a new video by a self-professed drug dealer of Ford smoking what has been described as crack cocaine. The video secretly was filmed in Ford’s sister’s basement early Saturday morning, the newspaper reported.
Ford, who is seeking re-election in the October election, acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a “drunken stupor” after police said they obtained a video that appears to show him smoking crack. The video has never been released to the public.
In November, the City Council voted to strip Ford of most of his powers.
