Last week I wrote about some of my favorite excuses from Colorado politicians, highlighted by Republican Rep. Ray Rose’s asinine assertion that he wasn’t involved in a recall effort of a Western Slope official (weeks earlier Rose had held a press conference about it). I still think Rose’s absurd excuse is the best of the year, but here’s another contender: (former) Broomfield Assessor Vickie Brown. As the Rocky Mountain News reports:

The “odd long snorts” coming from Broomfield County Assessor Vickie Brown’s cubicle aroused her coworkers’ suspicions.

Their decision to do some sleuthing led to Brown’s admission that she brought cocaine to work and to her resignation from the $83,054-a-year job she’s held since 2004…

…After initially denying the accusations, she admitted bringing cocaine to work June 28, but only by accident.

“I was going through my purse at work, found a piece of paper folded up and remembered it was there from the weekend before,” Brown wrote in her statement to police. “I was at a friend’s house over the weekend, there was cocaine there, and it was placed in my purse for someone else to use.

“It was a very small amount. I opened it at work forgetting it was there, must have spilled on the countertop. I do not use cocaine at home and especially not at work. I am very embarrassed that I let this happen.”

Asked by police who put the cocaine in her purse, Brown said, “I am not sure who put it there. There were at least 10 people there.”

Someone put cocaine in a folded piece of paper and stashed it in your purse? Man, I hate when that happens.