Crack-and-alcohol aficionado and fun-time Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford says he is finally getting help for his substance abuse issues.

Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, told reporters Wednesday night that Ford acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem and he wants to do something about it.

Morris says Ford will take a leave of absence from office in order to address his issues. Ford is currently campaigning for reelection in October but told the Toronto Sun he's "ready to take a break" and "go get help."

According to the Sun, Ford's abrupt decision may be linked to a recent recording of the mayor drunkenly complaining about his wife and making lewd comments about "fucking jamming" another mayoral candidate on Monday night. According to witnesses, he was later seen buying shots and trying to fight other patrons.

UPDATE 9:30 PM: Linked to Ford's resignation is a second video of the Toronto mayor smoking crack, apparently filmed over the weekend in his sister's basement and viewed by the Globe and Mail.

The clip, which was viewed by two Globe and Mail reporters, shows Mr. Ford taking a drag from a long copper-coloured pipe, exhaling a cloud of smoke, his right arm convulsing. The footage is part of a package of three videos the dealer said was surreptitiously filmed around 1:15 a.m., and which he says he is now selling for "at least six figures."

The reporters who viewed the tape say Ford's sister Kathy, a self-professed addict, and a man who looks like Ford's shady former driver Alessandro "Sandro" Lisi, both appear in the video.

[image via AP]