Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak joined a list of high-profile politicians when he admitted on Thursday he was a "normal kid" that experimented with marijuana in his younger days.
Hudak made the admission during a press conference in Toronto in which he pledged his government would create a registry of homes that were previously used as grow-ops and meth labs.
"I was a normal kid, I had a normal upbringing, a normal life in university so I experimented from time to time with marijuana," Hudak told reporters, answering a question about his own drug history.
Despite his past flirtation with cannabis, however, Hudak says he does not support the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana.
"I think we still need to set a very clear direction that drug use is wrong and these criminal activities need to be taken very seriously," he said.
Hudak's admission comes during the build-up to the Oct. 6 provincial election. The Tory leader is up against Premier Dalton McGuinty, who admitted in 1999 to smoking pot.
McGuinty, who was working the campaign trail at the time, told reporters it was something he was not proud of and that his past extracurricular activities did not set a good example for his children.
Other high-profile politicians that have also admitted to trying a few buds in their youth including staunch conservative and Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and former U.S. president Bill Clinton -- although he said he didn't inhale.
