TORONTO, April 30 (UPI) -- After months of media reports about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's admitted drug use, drunken antics and crude behavior, the beleaguered politician said that he was "ready to take a break" from his re-election campaign on Wednesday.
Ford told Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington that it was time to “deal with his issues.”
He announced his leave of absence shortly after two unflattering videos emerged Wednesday.
In one video, obtained by The Globe and Mail, Ford is reportedly seen smoking from a pipe in his sister's basement.
A self-professed drug dealer who secretly recorded the video said it took place early Saturday morning and that Ford smoked crack.
Ford has previously admitted to using crack cocaine "in a drunken stupor."
Another video obtained by the Toronto Star reportedly shows the 44-year-old mayor in a making "lewd comments" about mayoral candidate Karen Stintz.
Ford's lawyer Dennis Morris told the Globe and Mail that the mayor said he needed to deal with his "substance abuse problems."
“He just needs time to freshen up in the sense that he’s overwhelmed by most everything that’s been going on in the last 14 years and he hasn't really taken a leave. I think that this is good for his health, it’s good for the public, it’s good for the voters and it’s good for his family," Morris also told the Star.
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