BUSH GETS EMOTIONAL AT DRUG SUMMIT

The Mention Of The Drug Problems In His Own Family Chokes Him Up

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush choked back a sob Tuesday as he thanked
supporters at a drug summit for offering prayers and kind words after
his daughter's arrest on drug charges.

"I have an emotional feeling about my daughter," Bush said. "I love
her a lot. When she's hurting, it brings me great sadness. She's
always going to be daddy's little girl to me."

Noelle Bush, 24, has been in drug treatment since she was arrested in
January on charges of posing as a doctor to get the antianxiety
prescription drug Xanax.

Bush was addressing a crowd of prevention professionals and law
enforcement officers, who met to talk strategy during an all-day
meeting in Tallahassee. Bush's wife, Columba, was also there. She has
been working on drug prevention issues since Bush took office.

Before their daughter's arrest, the Bushes had said publicly that they
had a child who struggled with drugs but didn't identify which one.
Miss Bush's Jan. 29 arrest brought the family's private struggle into
the public eye.

Miss Bush entered a pretrial release program that requires her to
submit to random drug testing. The Bushes have said she is in drug
treatment, but have not offered specifics.

"I'd rather not talk about what she's doing," Bush
said.

Later, he told reporters: "Bush men always cry. I apologize. It's a
little genetic problem I got from my dad. . . . I don't even know why
I brought it up because I knew I was going to cry. It was stupid of me
to even try to talk about it."

During the conference, Florida drug czar Jim McDonough said drug use
has gone down over the past two years, from 8 percent of Floridians to
5.5 percent. He cited two initiatives, one focused on club drugs like
ecstasy and another aimed at stopping cocaine shipments along the
Miami River.