BUSH OUTLINES PLANS ON DRUG ABUSE

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa--George W. Bush blamed what he said were the past
decade's record-high teen-age drug abuse rates on the Clinton
administration, calling it "one of the worst public policy failures of
the 1990s."

Addressing a gathering at a community center Friday morning, Bush
acknowledged that teen drug use has leveled off in the last two years.
But he said many indicators still show teen drug use at its highest
levels in more than a decade.

The Texas governor prepared for a two-day swing through Florida after
outlining new initiatives to curb drug abuse, particularly among teenagers.

In prepared remarks, Bush said the issue is an area "in which parents
badly need an ally."

He cited drug use as a major factor in rising health costs, the spread
of disease, the quality of public housing and the decline of families
and education.

Bush criticized the Clinton administration's efforts in trying to
control drug abuse, saying one of the President's first acts in office
was to slash the staff of the White House drug policy adviser's office
by 80 percent.

Since then, Bush said, the percentage of high school seniors who smoke
marijuana daily has grown to its highest level in nearly 20 years,
increasing by more than 300 percent since 1992. He added that daily
use of marijuana by eight graders increased by 700 percent in that
period.

"There is no substitute for presidential leadership," Bush said. "More
than any other person in America, the President can set a tone,
deliver a message, lead a cause. This is a cause I will lead."

Bob Weiner, spokesman for White House drug policy director Barry
McCaffrey, criticized Bush's numbers as outdated, saying he was
"making nonsense" out of the figures.

"We have to have accuracy in the statements," he said. "The numbers
that Mr. Bush used are out-of-date numbers."

Weiner said Clinton "streamlined" executive branch staff when he first
took office, including the drug control policy office. But since then,
Clinton and McCaffrey expanded it, he said. "They re-upped the staff
to a level that was competent to do the job. Bush forgot that point."

During his campaign stop, Bush pushed several initiatives, including
one that would provide $25 million to support nonprofit agencies
working to help parents curb drug abuse by their children. He also
said he would push for efforts to promote drug-free workplaces, saying
that drug abuse costs companies about $98 billion a year in lost
productivity.

If elected, Bush said, he would "direct our government to assess,
state-by-state, where people in need of drug treatment aren't being
treated. By some estimates, there are 3 million Americans in this
category," he said.

Overall, the Texas governor said, he would increase federal funding by
$1 billion to address the problem. The idea continues Bush's focus on
the family, a theme he hit upon several times Thursday while
campaigning in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Promising to "put
government back on the side of parents," Bush outlined steps to make
workplace compensatory time easier to claim and to give parents
flexibility to work from home. He also said he would require libraries
and schools that get federal funds to install Internet filters that
are designed to prevent children from viewing sexually explicit Web
sites.

In a campaign visit at Helen Keller Middle School, in a solidly
Republican suburb of Detroit, Bush urged the television industry to
voluntarily restore a nightly "family hour" between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.,
and establish a new code system using the letter "v" to identify
violent programs.

"One of the biggest problems in our society today is that our children
are being forced to grow up too soon," Bush said.

He declared running mate Dick Cheney's Thursday night debate
performance a victory.

"He won it hands down tonight," Bush said via satellite to a
post-debate rally for Cheney in Danville, Ky., the site of the event.

"America got to see why I picked this man as my running mate. He's the
real thing," said Bush, who also predicted he would win the
predominantly Democratic state.

A three-day CNN-USA Today-Gallup tracking poll released Thursday
showed Gore was up 51 percent to Bush's 40 percent. The two were
virtually even Tuesday in the tracking poll of likely voters, which
has an error margin of 4 percentage points. The new poll was taken
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, including some voters before and after
the first presidential debate.