In a bombshell revelation, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine during his term about a year ago.
“Yes I have smoked crack cocaine,” Ford told stunned reporters at city hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Ford added that he doesn't currently smoke crack and he's not an addict, but has experimented with the drug.
"Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately a year ago" Ford said. "Yes, I've made mistakes.
All I can do now is apologize and move on...it was a couple isolated incidents."
It's not yet clear what prompted the mayor to make the admission after months of denial but a report says his staff was caught completely by surprise by the admission.
Police spokesman Mark Pugash said, “In response to the admission made by Mayor Ford this afternoon, police advise this information will be passed on to investigators.” He declined further comment.
Ford first became linked to crack use after Gawker and reporters from the Toronto Star said they were approached by a man attempting to sell a video that showed Ford smoking what appeared to be crack.
Last week, police chief Bill Blair told reporters that the video was recovered from a computer hard drive and said media depictions of its contents were accurate.
Ford reiterated Tuesday that he "wants to see the tape" and stressed that he doesn't know what it shows.