Beleaguered Toronto mayor Rob Ford will be seeking re-election this October.  A mixture of drugs and pure delusion must have taken a hold of his brain if he thinks that he even has a chance of coming in second place.  Should he even have been elected in the first place? The answer is no.

Rob Ford’s Biggest Demons

The biggest issue Ford faces is himself.  It’s no secret that Ford faces serious issues with addiction.  His abuse of alcohol has been well known for many years.  In 1999 he was arrested for a DUI and possession of marijuana while in Florida. Ford apparently did not feel the need to hide his alcoholism after the incident because his public drunkenness has been well documented since.  One such event occurred while he was a councillor. Ford attended a Toronto Maple Leafs game and apparently decided that it would be a good idea to get completely shit faced.  Instead of enjoying the game he focused his attention on harassing a couple seated near him to the point that security had to escort him out of the building. Instead of allowing himself to be held accountable for his actions he chose to claim that he was never even at the the game.  He later confessed that was a lie and gave the standard half hearted apology that those in the public eye give to appease the masses.  Surprisingly the people of Toronto were willing to overlook these indiscretions because in 2010 he was elected mayor.  I would like that say that he gave up the booze and went down the road of sobriety but we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.  In 2013 he stepped things up with a new friend called crack.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves though, Fords battle with alcohol continued through his time as mayor and is worth noting.  He was not a closeted drunk during this time, in fact he was just the opposite.  His inappropriate antics were reported by many respected individuals, but Ford continued shoot back his standard denials.  He probably would have continued on this path had it not been for the infamous video that showed Ford in a whole new light.

Crack is not, and rightfully so, a socially acceptable drug.  A person who smokes crack all weekend won’t get the same reaction as person who spent his time time drinking or smoking weed and someone like Ford ,who has probably done all three on a Tuesday, will really not be received well. In 2013 he was shown on video smoking crack from a glass pipe and he finally gave the public irrefutable  evidence that he was spinning out of control.  He downplayed it, claiming to have done it only once while drunk.  Ford was proven to be a liar once again because just this year another video surfaced and guess what he was smoking? Survey says crack!  Ford finally had his back against the wall and agreed to take a leave of absence and go to rehab.

His stint at rehab was short lived, only two months.  Hardly enough time to treat a near lifetime of addiction.  Yet he has stepped out of rehab and onto the campaign trail leading up to Octobers election.  Will the stress of re-election push him back to drinking and drugs? Is he even sober now? Only time will tell and it’s up to the people of Toronto to decide if they want to take that chance.

In Conclusion

Prospective voters and those just looking to take a peek into the outrageous life of Rob Ford should read Robyn Doolittle’s book Crazy Town:The Rob Ford Story.  It is definitely eye opening and personifies the saying that truth is stranger than fiction.