Rob Ford to step aside, seek help for substance abuse

TORONTO - After maintaining for months that he is not an addict or an alcoholic, Rob Ford announced Wednesday he is seeking help for substance abuse, even as media reports emerged with new drug and alcohol allegations.
“I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time,” the mayor said in a statement emailed by his re-election campaign.

“I have tried to deal with these issues by myself over the past year. I know that I need professional help and I am now 100 per cent committed to getting myself right.”

The mayor said he will take a leave of absence from his re-election campaign and mayoral duties “to seek immediate help,” but gave no other details as to his plans.
The city clerk’s office confirmed to Global News Thursday morning it has received a written notice that the mayor is taking a personal leave.
This announcement comes after The Toronto Sun reportedly obtained an audio recording of Ford ranting in an Etobicoke bar Monday night and The Globe and Mail says a second video of Ford smoking what looks like crack-cocaine has emerged.
In the audio recording The Toronto Sun has obtained, the mayor allegedly makes rude comments about mayoral contender Karen Stintz and complains about his wife, Renata.
The mayor is overheard at one point saying he would “like to f***ing jam her,” in reference to Stintz.
Stintz called Ford’s alleged comments “deeply offensive.”
“That a sitting mayor would make such shocking and bigoted remarks is disgusting,” she wrote in a statement.
“This is the not the first time that Rob Ford has made misogynistic comments.”
Global News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the audio.
LISTEN: Audio recording obtained by The Toronto Sun. Global News has not been able to verify the authenticity of this audio. Warning: Language might offend some viewers.

The Globe and Mail says the new video, which two reporters viewed, was secretly filmed in Ford’s sister’s basement last Saturday morning and shows Ford smoking a substance described as crack-cocaine from a “long copper-coloured pipe.”

VoidCircle