THE PUBLIC HAS BETTER ISSUES FOR GOV. BUSH

WHEN he began his campaign for the presidency, Texas Gov. George W.
Bush said he had made some mistakes in his younger days.

Though he has acknowledged a past problem with alcohol, a legal drug,
he wouldn't specifically address the question of whether he'd ever
used cocaine, an illegal drug. If the public doesn't like it, he said,
"they can find somebody else to vote for. That's the wonderful thing
about democracy."

How refreshing.

In the waning days of summer, however, Bush stumbled. He gave partial
denials, saying first he hadn't done drugs in the past seven years,
then expanding that to 25 years. When pushed by reporters, he declined
to give a blanket denial.

It's not that drug use is irrelevant to the presidency, but the
question of Bush's possible drug use many years ago is of far less
importance today than his policy and actions as governor regarding
current drug users.

Bush's critics think they have an opening to push on his personal
behavior because, if he won't categorically deny drug use, then he
must have done drugs at some point. Bush thus would personify the
hypocrisy of American drug policy, which jails blacks for crack
cocaine and offers counseling for whites who use cocaine in its powder
form.

With or without the hypocrisy, Bush's actions as governor are fair
game for criticism. In 1997, he signed a measure authorizing jail time
for possession of less than one gram of cocaine, a policy that
perpetuates the jailing of users for minor offenses and the perverse
growth industry of Texas, building prisons. He has been insensitive to
the social roots of drug abuse and ridiculed treatment. "Incarceration
is rehabilitation," he once said.

Bush certainly should be questioned about his drug policies. But until
and unless there is a specific allegation of an incident, a witness or
some link to his conduct in public life, the did-you-ever questions do
little to advance critical public knowledge about the candidate.

Bush should maintain his original position and let the public decide
if that one unanswered question disqualifies him for the presidency.
By helping to stake out new ground in media-candidate give-and-take,
he may be doing us all a service.