Mayor Rob Ford and Premier Kathleen Wynne are the latest politicians to admit to smoking pot in what’s become a bit of a trend in Canadian politics.
In an interview with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Toronto’s mayor said he has smoked “a lot” of marijuana.
“Oh, yeah,” Ford said with a laugh after he was asked about past marijuana use. “I won’t deny that. I’ve smoked a lot of it.”
Questions about pot smoking have become the norm in interviews with some of Canada’s best-known politicians since Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau admitted last week that he puffed on a joint at a dinner party three years ago, while he was an MP.
Wednesday wasn’t the first time Ford has been asked about illicit drug use.
During the mayoral campaign in 2010, Ford was asked about a traffic stop that occurred when he was vacationing in Florida in 1999, before he was elected to city council.
After police found a joint in Ford’s back pocket, he was charged with marijuana possession and failing to provide a breath sample.
Ford later entered a guilty plea to failing to provide a breath sample, and the marijuana charge was dropped. He was fined and ordered to do community service.
This year, Ford has repeatedly faced questions about an alleged video of him smoking from a glass pipe since reports surfaced on the U.S. gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star.
The alleged video has not surfaced, and its authenticity has not been substantiated.
Ford has denied the existence of the video and he has denied smoking crack cocaine.
As for Wynne’s pot use, the premier said Wednesday she last smoked marijuana 35 years ago before she was elected as an MPP.
Trudeau has said that marijuana should be regulated and legalized, but Wynne wouldn’t say whether she agrees with him.
She says there needs to be a discussion about the possible pros and cons first.
After Trudeau’s revelation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters he has never tried pot and attributed that to his asthma.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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