Ford's remarks to Joe Warmington in the Toronto Sun about rehab being "amazing" and like "football camp" had all the markings of a kind of treatment patient I like to call "The Fonz." These are the clients that enter rehab totally cool, calm and collected. They have everything under control. They also tend to be full of compliments.

Mayor Ford has finally allowed himself, in his own words, to be "vulnerable" and seek help for his substance abuse problems. I don't like Ford. I didn't vote for him. Politically, he and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum. He has shown misogynistic, racist and homophobic streaks. A lot of people like his regular-folk demeanour and manner of speaking, but I cringe at his delivery. I hope he doesn't get re-elected. But the man is, by all accounts, an addict. He deserves some privacy, and some decent human compassion for what he, and his family, are suffering.

If you're middle or lower class in Canada -- the very group of people Rob Ford has always professed to represent -- you can't just go to rehab when you want to go. If you can't afford private treatment, you have to get in line. You will likely spend months before your name makes it to the top of the list, and hopefully when your turn arrives you'll still be willing to go and will still be alive. I ended up getting fast-tracked to my government rehab after I overdosed while on the wait list. It's easy to give up when the pain is unbearable, even when help is just weeks away.