Mayor Rob Ford, who says he has smoked “a lot” of marijuana and was once arrested in the U.S. with a joint in his pocket, spoke favourably of marijuana decriminalization Thursday.

Ford has admitted to using crack cocaine and marijuana as mayor and powder cocaine in the past. He is now the most prominent Conservative to muse about marijuana decriminalization in recent years.

Ford was asked for his views during his weekly appearance on a Washington, D.C. sports radio show, The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan. He said legalization is “not going to happen” under a “very strict” Conservative government in Canada — but then questioned the government’s approach.

“The Conservative government up here is very — you know, it’s job creation, it is stimulating the economy but I’ve questioned that too sometimes — why wouldn’t they at least decriminalize it and try to get revenue from it,” Ford said.

“But that’s a debate that’s been going on for years in Canada. We have medicinal marijuana so a lot of people who are sick use it but they won’t legalize it or decriminalize.”

Ford’s comments represent a shift in his public position. He had previously endorsed current marijuana laws.

Ford refused to elaborate on his “decriminalize” remark when asked at a city hall news conference later in the day — and even appeared to deny that he had said the word.

“No, I didn’t say that. I said it’s a federal issue. We have nothing to do with that,” he said.

He added: “Go talk to the prime minister. Or am I the prime minister now?”

Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has called for legalization, while the national association of police chiefs has asked for the right to issue tickets to people found with small amounts rather than laying criminal charges.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Conservative, said in August that he is “looking carefully” at the chiefs’ proposal. Justice Minister Peter MacKay told QMI Agency in December that the government is considering it.

“That doesn’t mean decriminalizing or legalizing, but it does mean giving police options, for example, to issue fines in addition to any other sanctions, or as a substitute for other sanctions,” MacKay said. “These are things that we are willing to look at in the New Year, but there’s been no decision taken.”

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Ford has always fashioned himself a law-and-order conservative. In 2005, he was the most outspoken council opponent of the Toronto Drug Strategy, which advocated support for decriminalization, the provision of “crack kits” to reduce health risks to crack cocaine users.

“Crack kits? Again, you’re just condoning this behaviour and supplying paraphernalia to kill themselves,” Ford said then. “You might as well just give them a rope and chair, put them in a room and say ‘Hang yourself.’”

Ford was arrested in Florida in 1999 for driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana possession. He pleaded no-contest to the DUI, and the marijuana charge was dropped.

The Star and the U.S. website Gawker revealed in May that there is a video that appears to show Ford smoking crack cocaine. After vehemently denying crack use, and denying the video’s existence, he relented after police Chief Bill Blair confirmed that the video is real.