US SENATE CANDIDATE LINCOLN CHAFEE ADMITS TO COCAINE USE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Lincoln Chafee, a U.S. Senate candidate and son of
a stalwart Republican, admitted Sunday that he used cocaine "several times"
during his college years.

Chafee, the mayor of Warwick, R.I., is the only Republican running for the
seat being vacated by his father, John Chafee, who is retiring from the Senate.

Referring to the media's "dogged" pursuit of Republican presidential
candidate George W. Bush's possible drug use, the younger Chafee decided to
be forthcoming with his own cocaine use when asked about it during a
WJAR-TV news show interview that aired Sunday.

"I had three choices -- lie, which was not an option, or evade it and
receive the consequences of that, or be honest. And I chose to be honest,"
Chafee said from his home Sunday.

Chafee, 46, acknowledged that the revelation could hurt his candidacy if
voters hold him to the wholesome image of his father, a former Boy Scout
and World War II hero.

Chafee said he tried cocaine several times around 1974, as a student at
Brown University. They were "tumultuous years" characterized by the Kent
State killings, the invasion of Cambodia and Jimi Hendrix, he said.

"It's not something I'm proud of," Chafee said.

The race has so far has attracted U.S. Rep. Robert Weygand, D-R.I., former
Democratic Lt. Gov. Richard Licht, and former state attorney general Arlene
Violet, who may run as an Independent.

"I think his personal involvement with cocaine is going to be between him
and the voters," Violet said.