DALEY BLASTS N.Y. MAYOR'S POT QUIP

Mayor Daley blasted New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on
Wednesday for making a flippant remark about his past marijuana use,
saying it sends a dangerous message to children.

Bloomberg's comment to a magazine reporter last year--before he
declared his candidacy for mayor--has made him the unwitting poster
boy for the campaign to decriminalize marijuana.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation
has launched a $500,000 advertising campaign featuring Bloomberg's
response when asked if he ever tried pot.

"You bet I did. And I enjoyed it," Bloomberg said.

On Wednesday, the mayor of the Second City lashed out at his New York
City counterpart.

If Bloomberg was foolish enough to use marijuana before becoming
mayor, Daley said, he should be smart enough now that he has the
bully pulpit to keep his mouth shut about it.

"It's the wrong message. It's a sad message. It's like getting up
there and saying, 'Hey, this is great. I'm smoking every day.' Think
of that," Daley said.

"Adults have to be role models--whether you like it or not. . . . I'm
just trying to protect a lot of kids--children who, maybe, don't have
the 44 limousines and all the money."

Bloomberg has said he regretted making the remark, now featured in
full-page newspaper ads, in radio commercials and on bus shelters and
transit signs in the Big Apple.