FLORIDA'S FIRST LADY VISITS BREVARD TO RAISE AWARENESS

Florida's first lady spent most of Tuesday in Brevard County trying to
raise awareness about the importance of the arts and of the growing
substance-abuse problem in Florida.

"My daughter is doing fine," Columba Bush said during her first stop
at Space Coast Middle School in Port St. John where she promoted the
arts. "Substance abuse is a huge problem that unfortunately affects
all of society. I am very conscious of how horrifying it is. I'm
trying to do all I can and to move ahead."

Bush's 24-year-old daughter Noelle was charged in January with trying
to obtain a drug without a prescription. She is undergoing treatment
at an undisclosed location.

Substance abuse has received a lot of attention statewide this year.
Before Noelle was arrested, Gov. Jeb Bush cut the budget for treatment
programs across the state. Faced with balancing the state budget,
legislators went on to eliminate funding for drug courts.

Columba Bush and drug czar Jim McDonough, who accompanied the first
lady during her visit, said substance abuse was still a priority and
residents would be seeing a greater push from the governor's office in
the coming months.

"I think you will see tremendous support for prevention and
treatment," McDonough said after meeting with the board of directors
from PREVENT! of Brevard, an organization that offers several
education and prevention programs.

In fact, the governor's proposed 2002-03 budget seeks a $14.8 million
increase over the current drug control and substance abuse budget. He
also proposed more drug courts including one in Brevard and one in
Pinellas County.

There are 75 drug courts operating in the state. These courts give
drug criminals an opportunity to get treatment and avoid jail. If
clean for 12 months, their criminal charges are dropped.

But some question Bush' commitment. His proposed budget includes
$188.6 million budget for prevention and treatment, but in 1999 the
budget was $189.1 million.

Wearing her emotions on her face and touched by some of the drug
stories she heard, Bush said she remains committed to helping with the
substance abuse problem. She will continue to serve on a variety of
boards and agencies that aim to eradicate substance abuse and she
plans more school visits to raise awareness.

"Whatever I can do, I will do it," Bush said. "People need to know how
important this is."

As a parent of a child who is struggling with a substance problem,
Bush said she has one piece of advice for others.

"Go to organizations like (PREVENT!) and talk to professionals," she
said. "You need to have guidance and these organizations serve a very
important role in this."

She agreed that starting early is key. That's why she said she enjoyed
her visit at the Head Start program in Melbourne, where Circles of
Care is running the Right Start program.

Each week outreach specialist Beatriz Castillo talks to a class of
pre-schoolers about the dangers of drugs.

Castillo also showed the children magazine ads and asked them to tell
her what the items were. A strawberry daiquiri was mistaken for a
Slurpee and a bottle of lemon-scented floor cleaner was mistaken for
shampoo. She reminded the children to ask relatives before consuming
anything they see.

The program emphasizes communications and building relationships,
Castillo said.

"You have to reach them early," Castillo said. "We started in high
school, then middle and elementary school. But in today's world, you
need to start at the very beginning and by emphasizing communication
and relationships, because that's what is going to make a difference
when outside influences begin."

During their visit to PREVENT!, one board member asked the visitors to
focus their efforts on treatment and prevention.

"We will try to bring more money to both prevention and treatment,"
McDonough said. "We're developing a strategy, but we're not going to
solve this problem overnight."