COLUMBA BUSH PRAISES LOCAL DRUG PROGRAM

The stop was part of a statewide tour to gather information on services
that help deter drug use.

The seven computers sat unused, the table soccer game had no players and
the seats at the study tables were empty. It was still a few hours until
the 20 or so youngsters who hang out regularly at Bridgeway Center's Free
Zone would show up.

But Free Zone coordinator Kevin Wilson was already busy with other
visitors, including Florida's first lady, Columba Bush, and James
McDonough, director of Florida's Office of Drug Control.

"We have time to listen to what they have to say," Wilson noted as he
explained the programs offered at the Eleanor J. Johnson Teen Center on
Methodist Avenue in Fort Walton Beach.

"A lot more kids are coming and a lot of parents are calling about the
program," he added. "The biggest thing about the program is it's free."

While that prompted laughs, the Free Zone has a decidedly serious purpose
for boys and girls 12 to 17 years old. At some point during those years,
they will decide either to take drugs or stay away from them.

"Research has shown that the ages 12 to 13 is the critical breaking point
in kids' lives," Bob Monson, Bridgeway's assistant program director for
addiction and substance abuse programs, told about 30 board members and
local officials later at the organization's headquarters on Hospital Drive.

The Free Zone and Free Zone North, which opened in Crestview a few weeks
ago, try to make their lives break the right way. That dovetails nicely
with the four goals in Gov. Jeb Bush's Florida Drug Control Strategy.

Mrs. Bush's and McDonough's visit to Bridgeway on Friday was part of a
statewide tour to gather information on local services aimed at deterring
the demand for drugs.

"It's wonderful," Mrs. Bush said of the Free Zone. "It's a wonderful job
everybody's doing."

McDonough also praised Bridgeway's various substance-abuse treatment and
prevention programs.

"We're fully cognizant of the things you do," he said. "We need you to keep
doing that."

The Drug Control Strategy, initiated in 1999, aims to cut illegal drug use
by 50 percent by 2004 through coordinated efforts to protect children from
drugs, lessen the demand and supply, and reduce the social and economic
fallout.

At almost the halfway point, the effort is paying off, said McDonough.
Heroin and cocaine deaths are down and youths are staying away from cocaine
and marijuana.

"We're seeing progress. We're seeing youth use go way down," said
McDonough. "We're seeing cocaine and marijuana use going down 80 to 90
percent throughout the state."

The bad news, however, is that methamphetamine and club drugs like GHB are
growing in popularity, he added.

"I'd be kidding you, and you'd know it, if I said our problems have gone
away," said McDonough.

He also noted that the Okaloosa County School District is the only one in
the state that does not allow students to complete a Florida Youth Survey
concerning drugs. The survey helps provide a data base used to grade
organizations' grant requests.

"It's critical we get your involvement. You need to take a hard look at
that," he said as Ray Sansom, the school district's community affairs
director, looked on.

Superintendent Don Gaetz said later that the 97-question survey distributed
by the state Department of Health also asks about sexual habits and family
issues like corporal punishment that should be left in the home.

"This survey contains a lot questions that are sexually explicit,' said
Gaetz. "I find them to be intrusive."

He would be willing to work with state officials, Gaetz added. But the
survey could well have to be re-worded and designed not to take away from
class time.

"We're trying to focus on instructional time," he said.