SECOND PQ CANDIDATE ADMITS TO DRUG USE

Pauline Marois reveals she tried pot as a teen but did not like it

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

Pauline Marois, the number two candidate in the race, yesterday
confirmed she tried pot when she was 19 -- and she inhaled. But she
did not like it and stopped, Ms. Marois said at the end of a televised
debate on TVA.

On Sept. 19, front-runner Mr. Boisclair admitted he had used cocaine
in the past. His standing in the polls immediately shot up.

The straitlaced, 56-year-old Ms. 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 pathetic standing in the polls and the magic
effect of Mr. Boisclair's admission.

Yesterday, Ms. 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?'' Mr. Auger
asked during a half-hour debate between Ms. Marois and Mr. Boisclair.
''No,'' Ms. Marois said. ''Er, maybe I smoked pot at 19 years of age.''

''Maybe?'' Mr. Auger asked.

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

Mr. Boisclair, who has refused to discuss the cocaine story since his
September admission -- he has been ending news conferences and walking
out if asked about his drug use -- got his own hot question yesterday:
When exactly did he stop consuming?

''It's been several years,'' was all he said 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.''

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

She objected when he snidely suggested that at least he was loyal to
former leader Bernard Landry while Ms. Marois had demanded a
leadership race even before the results of a party confidence vote
were known.

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

Ms. Marois chose Andre, a Man Who Believes in Quebec.

Mr. Boisclair and Ms. Marois get another chance to debate on Wednesday
when the PQ stages its fourth all-candidates' debate, this time at the
Capitol Theatre in Quebec City.