NEW LAWS SIGNED AT ANTI-DRUG RALLY

Gov. Jeb Bush signed three anti-drug bills into law Friday at the Orange
Bowl in Miami in front of thousands of cheering schoolchildren from the
Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.

The governor then dashed to the Florida Keys to fish with 40 children from
the Liberty City charter school that he helped create and to chat with
Monroe County leaders at Islamorada's Cheeca Lodge resort.

Monroe County Commissioner Nora Williams said she and her colleagues on the
commission, members of the Islamorada Village Council and Key West Mayor
Sheila Mullins used the time to discuss the proposed widening of the
18-mile stretch and a toll on U.S. 1, and to urge the governor to lobby to
make funding for Keys water quality problems a priority in the Congress.

"We are not managing to get the support we need from our senators in
Washington," Williams said of efforts to get federal funding for Keys
sewage treatment. "We are a small place, and it's hard for us to. But the
need here is greater than anywhere we know.

"We need the governor's help to raise our profile in Washington. He's
already written letters for us, but it may take a phone call and some
persuasion."

In Miami-Dade County, Bush focused on a different battle, the war on drugs.

The Three Strikes law that he signed at the Orange Bowl makes three-time
violent felony offenders serve a mandatory minimum prison sentence. A
first-degree felony, for example, requires a minimum 30-year sentence. The
law also calls for minimum mandatory prison sentences for drug traffickers.

The Special K law adds ketamine to the list of illegal drugs. Ketamine is
an animal tranquilizer that has been seen mostly in night dance events
known as raves.

The third law creates an Office of Drug Control in the governor's office.
It will direct state policy on drug control, including prevention,
education, treatment and law enforcement. State drug czar Jim McDonough
attended the event.

After signing the bills, Bush gave pens to some of the children.

"He didn't have to come and sign all those papers for us," said an
impressed Justin Castiglione, 11, of Highland Oaks Middle School.

The children, an estimated 15,000, graduated from the D.A.R.E. program at
their schools, a 17-week course designed to help them resist drugs.

Led by Miami-Dade Police Director Carlos Alvarez, the children raised their
right hands and swore to be drug-free. They pledged to say no to alcohol,
tobacco and illegal drugs, and to help their friends do the same.

"As long as you choose to stay away from drugs, everything is at your
doorstep," Bush told the children. "You can be a police officer, mayor,
governor or even president of the United States."

Later, the governor told reporters: "It's important for kids to know
there's a lot of good in this world" in the wake of the school shootings in
Colorado and Georgia.

Wearing a tie adorned with children and the American flag, Bush towered
over all of the other officials, including Miami Mayor Joe Carollo.

Moments later, the children watched a phony shootout on the football field
between drug dealers and police officers. The Miami-Dade Police Special
Response Team, Miami Special Weapons and Tactics, and the Florida Highway
Patrol Tactical Response Team took on "bad guys."

FHP brought out its armored personnel carrier, a vehicle that resembles a
tank with wheels.

As the alleged drug dealers fell to their deaths, the children cheered.

Three-time World Wrestling Federation champ Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson then
told the children the difference between television and real life:

"When you see The Rock wrestling on Mondays, that's just TV," Johnson said.
"You know that when an officer stops The Rock for speeding, he's not going
to put the officer on the ground."

Herald staff writer Marika Lynch contributed to this report.

e-mail: aacle@herald.com