Paterson Admits Past Cocaine Use

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By Azi Paybarah

March 24, 2008 | 7:31 p.m

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David Paterson is still adding to his string of confessions.

“I tried it a couple of times,” he said in an interview with NY1 News, when asked if he had ever used cocaine.

It was his first television interview since he became governor last week.

Host Dominic Carter asked Paterson a number of questions about past drug use. The governor also admitted he has used marijuana, but added that he has not touched illegal drugs since his early twenties.

Carter asked a similar series of questions during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. Both Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi said they had tried marijuana.

Paterson told Carter he spoke publicly about past drug use when he was Spitzer's running mate in 2006.

UPDATE: Here's the exchange:

Dominic Carter: You have?

David Paterson: Yes

Dominic Carter: Marijuana?

David Paterson: Yes

Dominic Carter: Cocaine?

David Paterson: Yes

Dominic Carter: You used cocaine governor?

David Paterson: I'd say I was 22 or 23, I tried it a couple of times, yes.

Dominic Carter: When is the last time that -- is that the only time you've tried cocaine, governor?

David Paterson: Yeah, around that time, a couple of times and marijuana, probably, when I was about 20. I don't think I've touched marijuana since the late 70s.

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