BUSH JNR CLAIMS HE HAS NOT USED DRUGS SINCE 1974

GEORGE W BUSH said yesterday that he had not used drugs since 1974, ending
a silence on the subject that was beginning to damage his presidential
campaign.

The front-runner for the Republican nomination did not want to imply that
he took illegal drugs before 1974, but he did open a big hole in what had
been an implacable stone wall. He said: "Not only could I have passed in
today's White House, I could have passed the standards applied under the
most stringent conditions when my dad was president." When George Bush Snr
became president in 1989, White House officials were asked if they had
taken drugs in the past 15 years.

That means the 53-year-old George Bush Jnr is now saying he has not used
drugs at least since he was 28. But he refuses to say he has never used
drugs, arguing that he should take a stand and not play "the game in
American politics" in which "somebody floats a rumour" and a candidate's
refusal to answer questions is taken as suggesting he has something to
hide. He has calculated that the question will eventually go away if he
sticks to his guns.

His aides say he is prepared to do so even if some people draw unjustified
conclusions. Seventy per cent of voters in polls say they approve of Mr
Bush's stand. His silence on the subject became untenable when he was asked
whether, in the light of his own refusal to answer questions, he would as
president continue the requirement that officials answer background checks
about drugs from the FBI.

His campaign realised he could not drop the background checks, but would
look hypocritical if he would not answer the questions his government asked
others. Many journalists and editors argue that their barrage of questions
about drugs is justified because the issue is "out there", and the
candidate's refusal to answer it merely stokes interest.

Others say this is a classic example of media creating rather than
reporting news by asking a question out of the blue, based on not a shred
of evidence, and implying guilt if the candidate does not "come clean".
They accuse Mr Bush of inconsistency. He says his refusal is based on the
principle that he need not itemise his past for a prurient press.

But he has itemised other private matters; admitting he drank too much
before turning teetotal 13 years ago at the age of 40, and saying he has
never been unfaithful to his wife, Laura. The campaign to force
drug-related answers from Mr Bush is apparently being stimulated by rivals
for the Republican nomination. Steve Forbes and Gary Bauer are both said to
be pressing reporters to keep harrying Mr Bush.