BUSH: I HAVEN'T DONE DRUGS IN PAST 7 YEARS

WASHINGTON -- Texas Governor George W. Bush told a newspaper yesterday that
he has not used drugs in the past seven years, but refused to answer other
questions about illegal drug use before that time.

Bush's answer to a Dallas Morning News reporter marked the first time the
Republican presidential candidate had responded to a question about drug
use. He previously had vigorously declined to do so, saying he would not
play the "Washington game" of responding to rumours.

The paper asked Bush whether he would insist that any appointees in a
future Bush administration answer questions about drug use that are part of
the normal FBI background check.

"As I understand it, the current form asks the question, 'Did somebody use
drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that
question, and the answer is 'no,' " Bush told the newspaper.

Mindy Tucker, a spokesperson for the Bush campaign, said last night Bush
had answered the question because "this is going to be asked of anybody who
serves in his administration, should he become president. He feels he
should take the lead in answering it. It is not a question about the
mistakes of a young man."

Bush has said in the past that when he was "young and irresponsible," he
did things that were irresponsible.

Bush has been asked repeatedly about whether he used illegal drugs,
including cocaine, earlier in his life, although no credible allegations
have been made that he did so.