BUSH NOT INCLINED TO PARDON DRUG OFFENDERS

AUSTIN - People with loved ones imprisoned for drugs and those who
call the war on drugs a failure urged Gov. George W. Bush yesterday to
review drug offenders' records with an eye to commuting sentences and
granting pardons to those who are nonviolent.

But a spokeswoman for the Republican presidential contender said Bush
can only recommend a pardon or commutation if a state board recommends
it.

Bush also isn't inclined to shield wrongdoers from the consequences of
their actions through pardons, spokeswoman Linda Edwards said.

Edwards said that under Texas law, Bush can only recommend a pardon or
commutation if it is first recommended by a majority of the Texas
Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board requires offenders to apply
for a pardon or commutation to have their cases reviewed, she said.

"Governor Bush is reluctant to grant pardons because of his basic
belief that those who commit crimes should suffer the consequences of
those crimes," she added.

Making their plea on the steps of the Texas Capitol, those petitioning
the governor cited his refusal to say whether his acknowledged
youthful "mistakes" include illegal drug use.

"There's a terrible double standard here," said G. Alan Robison,
executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, which calls the
War on Drugs "a cure far worse than the disease."

"Governor Bush thinks that if he did it, it should be disregarded as a
youthful indiscretion. Whereas if we do it, or at least if we get
caught doing it, we should be punished for it by being sent to
prison," Robison said.

Virginia Traylor of Dallas, who according to the Drug Policy Forum has
three sons incarcerated on a cocaine conspiracy charge, read from an
open letter to Bush's mother, Barbara Bush.

"You see, our boys also committed `youthful indiscretions.' But in
their cases, the prosecutors and courts called them `felonies,"' said
the letter from Traylor and other self-described "Mothers of Drug War
Prisoners."

"Mrs. Bush, we suggest it is time that you have a mother-to-son talk
with George W. ... Please ask your son to promise you that if he
becomes president, he will think long and hard about the injustices of
our nation's longest war -- the war on drugs," said the letter.