COLUMBA BUSH WARNS STUDENTS ABOUT DRUGS

Speaking in Spanish, she cautions them that addiction ensnares the poor and
the privileged.

MIAMI -- Columba Bush, wife of Gov. Jeb Bush , urged a group of middle
school Latina girls Saturday to resist the lure of drugs, drawing on her
own experience in helping her daughter battle drug addiction.

The rally at South Miami Middle School was held as part of a national
campaign -- Soy Unica! Soy Latina! -- to prevent drug abuse among Hispanic
girls.

It was one of the few times Columba Bush has spoken publicly about her
daughter Noelle's struggle with drugs.

Noelle Bush, 25, was arrested last January for using a fake prescription to
buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. A judge sentenced her to 10 days in jail
Thursday after she was reportedly found with a piece of crack cocaine in
her shoe while at the Orlando treatment center where she has been since
February.

"My daughter unfortunately is ill because drug addiction is an illness,"
Columba Bush said. "She's been fighting it for years."

At the event, the Mexican-born governor's wife -- who spoke entirely in
Spanish -- recalled the first time she met her future husband in Leon,
Mexico. An auditorium teeming with middle-school girls listened to her
describe how her roles as wife, mother and public figure have evolved.

"I didn't just wake up in the Governor's Mansion," Bush said. She cautioned
that drug addiction ensnares the poor and privileged alike.

"I've learned that drugs are not restricted to any one group or place,"
Bush said. "I have seen the terrible consequences that drug addiction has
on its victims and their family members."

Bush and New York State Department of Health Commissioner Antonia Novello
received glass plaques bestowing each with the title of Madrina or godmother.

The crowd also joined in a prayer for Margarita Osorio, whose daughter Ana
Maria Angel was raped and murdered on Miami Beach in April. Colombian-born
Angel was an honor student choosing among scholarships at the time of her
death.

"Ana Maria's message would be for these kids to do good, to keep focused on
their studies," Osorio said.

After the event, a visibly moved Bush hugged well-wishers and posed with
middle-schoolers who huddled around her.

Upon leaving, Bush told reporters she is hopeful her daughter will recover.

Asked if Noelle Bush might one day herself speak to students about the
peril of drugs, she said, "It would be a dream for me."