BUSH ADDS TO DRUG-USE STATEMENT

He calls background clean for last 25 years

ROANOKE, Va. - George W. Bush said no Thursday: No, he hasn't used illegal
drugs in the past 25 years - and no, he's not going to say what he did
before that.

"I've talked about my background all I'm going to talk about it," he said,
seeking to stamp out drug-use questions that followed him on campaign stops
from Virginia to Ohio.

If voters object to that, said the Republican presidential contender, "they
can go find someone else to vote for."

Mr. Bush's remarks were his most specific yet about the "have-you-ever-used
drugs" question that he has avoided for years, a question that some of his
GOP rivals say he should answer fully.

It came a day after the Texas governor told The Dallas Morning News that he
had not used illegal drugs in the past seven years - the time frame used in
normal FBI background checks of certain federal appointees.

Thursday, at a news conference in Roanoke, Mr. Bush said he also could have
passed a more stringent standard set by his father's White House in which
the FBI asked employees whether they had used drugs in the past 15 years.

The governor refused, however, to say whether he had been drug-free before
1974 - 15 years before his father became president in 1989. In 1974, Mr.
Bush was 28 and a graduate student at Harvard University.

The Clinton administration requires the FBI to ask some presidential
appointees about drug use since their 18th birthdays. Mr. Bush declined to
answer that question Thursday.

"Over 20 years ago . . . I made mistakes, and I learned from the mistakes,"
said Mr. Bush, 53, who has talked before about his drinking and
hard-partying past.

But he said such personal conduct issues have no place in the campaign and
that he wants to avoid the "politics of personal destruction" and offer
voters a positive, issue-oriented campaign.

"If they like it, I hope they give me a chance," he said. "If they don't
like it, they can go find somebody else to vote for."

"So far, I've found a lot of people in America saying, 'George W., we
appreciate somebody finally coming along and saying enough is enough.' "

Among other developments in the first media storm of Mr. Bush's
front-running campaign:

* Republican presidential rival Gary Bauer, a former Reagan White House
aide, said through a spokesman that Mr. Bush should be more forthcoming if
he used cocaine, which is a felony.

"Gary feels the candidates don't determine what is the statute of
limitations on questions of character and committing felony," said his
spokesman, Matt Smith. "The American people and the press do."

* The Bush campaign, in an effort to head off any political damage, shipped
"talking point" messages to the offices of several key supporters, such as
legislators and governors.

"Let's be clear," the memo said. "What you are talking about is ALL rumor,
gossip and worse."

Campaign spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Any good campaign makes sure their
surrogates have the facts." And Mr. Bush, he said, has "been a faithful and
responsible husband, father, employer and governor."

Campaign stop

Mr. Bush offered his latest drug statement at the start of a news conference
at a Roanoke community center for inner-city youth, where he began a day of
campaigning.

Previously, Mr. Bush had steadfastly refused to answer any questions about
whether he had used illicit drugs, saying he would not to respond to every
unfounded allegation.

He changed his mind after The News asked him whether his refusal to reveal
more was inconsistent with the requirement that certain federal employees
answer questions about drug use to get high-level security clearances.

"It was a relevant question about how I will conduct my presidency in terms
of others who would work in the White House," he said Thursday.

"American people need to know whether or not there will be security checks
administered on White House personnel," he said. "That's a very good
question, and I would live to the standards of the tests that I administer."

Privately, a senior Bush campaign aide who spoke on the condition of
anonymity said the governor had wanted to deal further with the drug
questions, in the context of the FBI background checks on White House
personnel.

"He realized it would be quite likely that the media would want to know . .
. what about previous administrations," the aide said. So, Mr. Bush offered
up his father's as an example.

In the George Bush White House, the seven-year window for inquiring into
possible illicit drug use by federal investigators doing background checks
was extended voluntarily by the president to 15 years.

"I could have passed the background check on the standards applied on the
most stringent conditions when my dad was president of the United States - a
15-year period," Mr. Bush said.

As for other federal jobs, background forms ask slightly different
questions, depending on the position. Drug questions can go back one year,
seven years or 10 years.

Pledge and praise

Mr. Bush was warmly received at $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser when he
reiterated his pledge to run an upbeat campaign that would not attack his
opponents.

And he was praised by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the televangelist who is
chancellor of nearby Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

A longtime friend of the Bush family, even "before the president was
president or vice president," Mr. Falwell said that he wasn't campaigning
for any of the GOP presidential candidates but that "if I had to vote today,
I'd vote for George W. Bush."

Mr. Falwell, who met privately with Mr. Bush for a few minutes, said he had
come to the fund-raiser as a guest of the governor and had not yet
contributed to his campaign.

"As a preacher of the gospel, our central message is God's forgiveness," Mr.
Falwell said, adding he didn't care whether Mr. Bush had used drugs when he
was young.

Saying he had not become a Christian himself until he was a sophomore in
college, Mr. Falwell said, "It would not bother me at all if I were to hear
today - and I haven't heard it - that the governor used some form of drugs
as a young man, or if he was a little reckless.

"I think George Bush is a good man. He's got a good wife, and I think he'd
make a good president."

Earlier, in a mid-morning walk through the old farmer's market in downtown
Roanoke, Mr. Bush was greeted enthusiastically, except for a lone
demonstrator.

The protester, carrying a placard saying simply "Snort," engaged the
governor briefly in a conversation and then left, saying he had heard
enough.

Others warned reporters not to ask so many drug questions. There is no
evidence the governor ever used illegal drugs, they said, and he's answered
enough questions already.

"Back off. Back off from it," said Frances Manuel.

And Charlie Edwards, a retired television repairman, agreed.

The governor would be a good president "if he's anything like his dad," Mr.
Edwards said. "I think his dad got a raw deal."

Staff writers Sam Attlesey in Austin, Bruce Tomaso in Columbus, Ohio, and
David Jackson in Washington contributed to this report.