DRUG SUMMIT SENSITIVE TOPIC FOR BUSH

Teary Dad Thankful For Daughter's Help

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush cried briefly during a drug summit
Tuesday as he thanked attendees for their prayers and support after his
daughter's arrest on drug charges.

"I want to thank you on behalf of my wife for your prayers and for your
quiet counseling in the last few months about our daughter Noelle," Bush
said before pausing, putting his hand over his face and choking back a sob.

"I knew I was going to do this," Bush whispered as he quickly recovered.
"Anyway, thank you."

Bush was addressing drug treatment and prevention professionals as well as
law enforcement officers at the summit. He talked about the state's goal of
reducing adult drug use.

"It's been tough personally, but it doesn't change my resolve for making
this an incredibly high priority," he said. "Bush men always cry, I
apologize. It's a little genetic problem I got from my dad," former
President Bush.

The governor's 24-year-old daughter has been undergoing treatment since her
Jan. 29 arrest on charges of trying to buy Xanax with a fraudulent
prescription.

Prescription drug abuse is one of the areas the state needs to focus on,
the governor said.

"These are powerful substances and they can be abused and ... when the
demon gets inside of you and you're addicted to drugs, you get really
creative in how you use and abuse these drugs to the detriment of yourself
and your family," Bush said.

Florida drug czar Jim McDonough said drug use has fallen during the past
two years, from 8 percent of Floridians to 5.5 percent. He cited two
initiatives, Operation Heat Rave and Operation Riverwalk, as being effective.

The first focused on club drugs such as Ecstasy and the second was aimed at
stopping cocaine shipments along the Miami River.

"We can reduce drug and alcohol abuse by 50 percent, I'm absolutely
convinced of it," Bush said. "We're on the right track." Afterward, the
governor talked about his show of emotion.

"I get emotional sometimes," he said. "It's not easy to always be worried.
As a dad, I love her very much. I want her to be able to live a healthy,
fulfilled life, and we've been struggling with this for a long time. 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 talk about it."