BUSH HOPES ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM REDUCES DRUG USE

ORLANDO, Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that there will be some
controversial aspects to a proposed anti-drug program that he believes will
cut drug use in half through treatment and punishment.

Bush and Florida drug czar James McDonough told several hundred substance
abuse counselors and administrators that the new program cherry-picks from
the best of both approaches. ``The old way of thinking is you're on one
side or the other,'' Bush said at a Florida Alcohol & Drug Abuse
Association conference. ``The debate has been sterile and like a ping pong
ball going back and forth.''

Bush plans on Sept. 10 to present the $500 million drug initiatives, which
will attempt to halve the number of Florida drug users by 2005. An
estimated 1.2 million Floridians now use drugs.

The state will pay for the bulk of the program.

``When people sell drugs and poison our community, they should be punished,
but we also need to expand treatment,'' Bush said before his speech.