( CNN ) -- Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said he is taking a break from his re-election campaign to seek help for alcohol abuse -- hours after a local newspaper reported on a new video that allegedly shows him smoking crack cocaine . `` It 's not easy to be vulnerable and this is one of the most difficult times in my life , '' Ford said in a statement Wednesday . `` I have a problem with alcohol , and the choices I have made while under the influence . I have struggled with this for some time . '' The statement , provided to CNN by Canada 's CTV News , comes after the Toronto Globe and Mail reported on the new video . In the video purportedly filmed Saturday , the newspaper reports Ford is seen smoking what a drug dealer described to the paper as crack cocaine from a copper-colored pipe . Two Globe and Mail reporters viewed the video , and the publication said it was shot in what appears to be Ford 's sister 's basement . The paper said the substance in the pipe could not be confirmed . The video 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 paper reported . Leave is immediate . Shortly after the newspaper confronted the Mayor about the video , Ford announced he was taking a break to get help . `` Today , after taking some time to think about my own well-being , how to best serve the people of Toronto and what is in the best interests of my family , I have decided to take a leave from campaigning and from my duties as mayor to seek immediate help , '' he said . His lawyer , Dennis Morris , told CNN that Ford 's leave begins immediately . `` He has to take a break to re-energize , because he realizes he has flaws that have to be addressed , '' Morris told CTV . But Morris told the Globe that he questioned the authenticity of the video , and said it is hard to prove what the Mayor is smoking . `` If these guys are drug dealers and there 's money involved , they can say whatever they want to get more money , to extract more money from the people who are paying , '' he said of the seller . The Globe said it did not buy the video , adding it purchased screen grabs from the three clips . Fall from grace . Ford 's fall from grace started in May 2013 when a cell phone video taken months earlier appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine . Despite intense public pressure , he remained defiant and denied using any illicit drugs . In November , the city council stripped him of most of his power as mayor . That did n't stop Ford , though . He ignored calls to enter rehab or resign , instead vowing `` outright war '' on the city council . `` If you think American-style politics is nasty , you guys have just attacked Kuwait , '' he said then to groans and laughter in the city council chambers . Seeking another term . And none of this stopped Ford from seeking another term in office , something he 's done for the past few months despite continued public ridicule and other challenges . In January , he admitted he had suffered a `` minor setback '' after a video posted on social media showed him babbling about the city 's police chief while at a fast-food restaurant . Again , he insisted that he 'd had a small amount to drink , but he had n't taken any drugs . `` As you know , I 'm a human being -- the same as every one of you , '' he told reporters at the time . `` And I 'm entitled to a personal life , and my personal life does not interfere with the work I do , day-in and day-out , for the taxpayers of this great city . '' CNN 's Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report .
His break comes after a new report linked him to substance abuse . The report surfaced on Canadian media . `` It 's not easy to be vulnerable and this is one of the most difficult times in my life , '' Ford says .