Paterson admits youthful drug use

Paterson, 53, admitted just last week that he and his wife had each engaged in extramarital affairs during a rocky period of their relationship years ago. He became governor a week after former governor Eliot Spitzer admitted his own participation in a prostitution ring.

The news was another bit of unwelcome news for New Yorkers who have heard it all in the past few weeks. In an exclusive interview on NY1's "Inside City Hall," Paterson said on Monday that he tried cocaine when he was about 22 or 23 years old. "And marijuana probably when I was about 20," he told CNN. "I don't think I touched marijuana since the '70s."

It was not the first time that Paterson had disclosed his youthful experimentation with drugs. Paterson reportedly acknowledged two years ago that he had tried drugs as a young adult. The story was not as widely reported then because Paterson was not the governor. 

"More Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and gone on to lead responsible lives and hopefully have lived their lives to their fullest," he said.