ELDER BUSH AIDS FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS AT WORK

Former President Bush told about 500 people in Scottsdale on Monday that
the fight against drugs in the workplace could help exterminate terrorism.

The annual fund-raiser for the non-profit group Drugs Don't Work in Arizona
will help businesses set up programs aimed at banishing use of drugs and
heavy drinking. That could help increase profits, since drug and alcohol
abusers can cause accidents and loss of productivity.

"Drugs Don't Work isn't a liberal or a conservative or a Democrat or
Republican idea," Bush said at the Phoenician resort. "It's just a good idea."

The group gave him an inaugural award, named in his honor, for his efforts.
Channel 12 (KPNX-TV), which is owned by The Arizona Republic's parent firm,
Gannett Co. Inc., was among Monday's luncheon sponsors.

The current Bush administration recently boosted the war on drugs and
terrorism with $10 million for ads saying drug purchases support terrorism.
Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network, the ads say, benefited from
Taliban control of Afghanistan's poppy crop, from which much of the world's
heroin is derived.

In addition, drug use costs businesses nationwide between $60 billion and
$140 billion annually, according to Partnership for a Drug Free America,
the national umbrella group for private anti-drug efforts.

About 87 percent of the nation's large companies, with more than 500
employees, test for drugs, and the law mandates testing for transportation
workers and companies with federal contracts.

But fewer than 20 percent of drug users and heavy drinkers work for the big
companies. That leaves small firms, which don't usually test, most
vulnerable, the Labor Department reports. Some in the drug-testing industry
are trying to change this.

Drugs Don't Work in Arizona, part of the National Drugs Don't Work
Partnership, targets small businesses. It says seven out of 10 drug users
are employed.

"It's good in the workplace, and good at 5 o'clock," said Susan Jones,
executive director of the organization in Arizona. "It makes drug-free
parents and citizens."

Critics say the program is hypocritical since it relies, in part, on
contributions from tobacco and alcohol producers. Other big contributors
include the makers of prescription drugs and genetically modified seeds.

Stopping hard-core drug abuse isn't as easy as the Bushes makes it seem,
said Keith Stroup, founder and executive director of Washington, D.C.-based
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Rather than from
terrorists, much of the nation's heroin comes from Mexico, while most of
its marijuana is home-grown or is imported from Canada, Mexico or Jamaica,
he said.

Stroup says many American adults use marijuana recreationally like they do
alcohol, and it should be handled with the same care. But he said pot
smokers shouldn't be treated the same as hard-drug users.

"The average marijuana smoker is just as hard working," Stroup said. "If
you drink alcohol and smoke tobacco that's terribly dangerous. (By keeping
them out of the workforce) we are needlessly destroying the lives and
careers of many hard-working Americans."

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who spoke at Monday's event, countered that the
Taliban has directly profited from drugs, especially opium.

"It's ruining lives. Whether they are American lives or not," Kyl said.

About a year ago, Lorraine Bergman, president of Mesa-based Caliente
Construction, started an anti-drug program for her 20 employees with help
from Drugs Don't Work in Arizona. She estimates the start-up costs at $1,000.

"I don't see why any small business wouldn't have it," Bergman said. "When
the (drug) tests come back positive, I'm glad I found out. I feel a lot
more comfortable, and the employees value it."

Murray Lappe started one of first workplace drug-testing firms in the early
1980s. As the chairman of eScreen Inc., a Kansas-based company that makes
rapid-result drug tests, he sees more small businesses like Caliente
wanting inexpensive, fast and reliable tests.