Report: Barry Tests Positive For Drugs

Former Mayor Marion Barry, who spent six months in jail in 1991 on drug charges, tested positive for cocaine last fall, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Barry, now a member of the District of Columbia Council, took a court-ordered test after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges, the newspaper said, citing two unidentified sources familiar with his case. He has since begun drug treatment, the report said.

Interviewed in his room at Howard University Hospital, where he is being treated for hypertension, Barry told a Post reporter: "Write what you want to write. That's my official quote. No more, no less."

Barry last week said he had been robbed by two teenage boys who had carried groceries for him. He later said he had recovered the wallet and credit cards the two armed robbers had taken from him. No arrests have been made.

On Oct. 28, Barry pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for failing to file tax returns for six years. He was released on his own recognizance pending sentencing on Feb. 8. However, a federal judge could now jail him or sanction him at any time because the positive test violates the terms of his release, the Post said.

Barry was jailed for six months in 1991 after being videotaped in a hotel room smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting during his third term as mayor in 1990.