MAROIS JUMPS ON DRUG BANDWAGON

Admits To Smoking Pot At Age 19. Boisclair's Standings In Pq Leadership
Race Surged After Making Similar Confession

It's done wonders for Andre Boisclair in the polls. Now another Parti
Quebecois leadership candidate has admitted consuming illegal drugs.

Pauline Marois, the No. 2 candidate in the race, yesterday confirmed she
had tried pot when she was 19, including inhaling. But she did not like it
and stopped, Marois said at the end of a televised debate on TVA.

On Sept. 19, front-runner Boisclair admitted he used cocaine in the past
and his standing in the polls immediately shot up as Quebecers bought into
his line that he made mistakes in his youth he's not proud of.

The straightlaced, 56-year-old Marois, meanwhile, has seen her standing
slip. Political cartoonists have made fun of the situation, portraying her
as suddenly turning into a drug addict in a bid to save her campaign.

Even Premier Jean Charest has become a drug addict in political cartoons
given his own poor standing in the polls.

Yesterday, Marois got her chance to clear the air - so to speak - on the
TVA Sunday political panel hosted by veteran reporters Paul Larocque of TVA
and Michel C. Auger of the Journal de Montreal.

"Madame Marois, have you ever consumed an illegal drug?" Auger asked Marois
during a half-hour debate between her and Boisclair. "No," Marois said.
"Er, maybe I smoked pot at 19 years of age."

"Maybe?" Auger asked.

"Yes, I tried. I tried at age 19. I inhaled. I didn't really like it, though."

Marois adds nothing more, but it is the first time she has made such a
statement.

Boisclair, who has refused to discuss the cocaine story since his September
admission - he has been ending news conferences and walking out if asked
for more details - got his own hot question yesterday: when exactly did he
stop consuming?

"It's been several years," was all Boisclair responded before complaining
the campaign has been hard on his personal life.

"I can tell you it was not easy to answer at a news conference when I
launched my campaign, 'Mr. Boisclair, do you think as a gay person you can
become premier?'

"I can tell you I am in full control of my faculties."

Boisclair, 39, and Marois used the debate to snipe at each other over who
was the source of speculation on Boisclair's past, with Boisclair again
accusing Marois's spin doctors of fabricating outrageous stories and Marois
challenging him to prove it.

Marois objected when Boisclair snidely suggested at least he was loyal to
former leader Bernard Landry compared to Marois, who started demanding a
leadership race even before he had failed the party confidence vote.

Asked about what kind of a climate will exist in the party after the nine
candidates and their supporters spend five months sniping at each other,
both claimed they will be able to work together, sarcastically offering
each other cabinet posts in the governments they assumed they will be
forming should they win the November leadership vote and the PQ win the
next election.

But Boisclair also fired back that Marois's "vile little attacks," in this
campaign are driving her supporters over to his side.

Asked what title he would give a biography of Marois's life, Boisclair
answered: "Perseverance."

Marois chose, "Andre, a man who believes in Quebec."

Boisclair and Marois get another chance to debate Wednesday when the PQ
stages its fourth all-candidate's debate, this time at the Capitol Theatre
in Quebec City. For a live webcast of the debate, go to www.pq.org.