Mayor Ford Should Resign, But Not Because He Smoked Crack

Toronto police have obtained a video of a man smoking crack cocaine in the company of several drug dealers. And that man is no average Joe — he is Rob Ford, the current Mayor of Toronto. When the video was made public, many called for Ford's immediate resignation, citing his drug abuse as cause. I disagree: Ford should not resign because he smoked crack; he should resign because he has lied and misbehaved since he took office. 

Drug addiction is a problem that affects people from all walks of life, but it does not necessarily impact one's integrity. After all, information on Ford's drug abuse surfaced after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Liberal Party Leader, admitted to smoking marijuana and years after President Barack Obama's past drug use became public knowledge without causing major controversy, so it doesn't seem logical to be up in arms over Ford's personal habits. One should, instead, be completely outraged by Ford's blatant corruption.

Ford's time in office has been marred by several scandals. He has grabbed the buttocks of a former mayoral candidate, overspent on his mayoral campaign, violated other spending regulations (for which he has avoided prosecution thanks to the City Council), and garnered a reputation as a debaucherous drunk. These scandals pale compared to Rob Ford's more recent actions. As the Toronto Sun reports, City Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor's brother, stated that Ford wrote reference letters for people facing criminal charges on official city letterhead. Most notably, the Toronto mayor wrote for Alexander Lisi, an occasional driver of his who was charged with marijuana trafficking and extortion, for trying to gain possession of the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack and threatening the video's owners.

Toronto Police have stated that they will not press charges against the mayor, whereas two of the drug dealers he was with in the widely circulated stills have been charged for their criminal activities (the third is deceased.) While I doubt he has the integrity to do so, Mayor Rob Ford should resign for his unethical actions and blatant abuse of power, regardless of whether he is formally charged with a crime.