BUSH CASE SPOTLIGHTS DRUG TREATMENT ISSUE

Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida's governor, has become an unlikely
poster child for drug-abuse treatment in this state.

The young woman's struggle to overcome her addiction at an Orlando
treatment facility made headlines again recently when police said crack
cocaine was found in her shoe. An investigation of the incident continues.

In July, Bush was sentenced to three days in jail for violating probation
after she was found carrying pills that belonged to a facility staffer. A
judge initially ordered Bush to undergo treatment after she was convicted
of trying fraudulently to obtain a prescription drug at a Tallahassee pharmacy.

Although her addiction is an ordeal for her and her family, her experiences
have turned a long-overdue spotlight on the issue of drug dependency and
the need for more treatment options in the Sunshine State.

Thanks to the efforts of state Rep. Randy Ball, R-Mims, and other members
of the Brevard County legislative delegation, the Legislature approved more
than $350,000 for drug court operations on the Space Coast this year.

Drug courts have proliferated in Florida, from 36 in 1998 to more than 70.
The special judicial operations expedite drug-abuse cases and usually
direct offenders into treatment rather than incarceration.

Gov. Jeb Bush cites those courts as being partly responsible for a decline
in drug use in Florida from 8 percent of residents in 1999 to 5.5 percent
in 2001.

That progress is encouraging, but state funding for drug courts has been
erratic. Legislative belt-tightening last year resulted in Brevard's drug
court allocation being axed, forcing those running the local operation to
scramble to keep the program alive. Fortunately, the County Commission
contributed more than $193,000 to keep the court operating.

Meanwhile, changes in public drug use and the development of new addictive
substances pose new challenges for this state.

A Florida Today analysis earlier this year found a sharp increase in the
number of teens who report using Ecstasy and in the number of people of all
ages arrested for using the drug. Those trends reflect a sharp increase
nationwide in the use of so-called "club drugs," often found at nightclubs
and parties where young people congregate.

At the same time, abuse of prescription drugs in Florida also is soaring.
The St. Petersburg Times recently reported that for the first time
prescription drug overdoses killed more Floridians last year than illegal
drugs.

Tests on 15,000 people who died under violent or unexplained circumstances
in 2001, the Times said, revealed that 714 had deadly levels of illegal
drugs in their bodies, but 939 had lethal levels of prescription drugs such
as Oxycontin.

All this indicates that the need for residential drug-treatment facilities
in Florida will continue to grow, and Floridians need to be ready to make
that investment.

In the meantime, the plight of Noelle Bush shows that substance abuse can
strike any family.