A VOICE OF EXPERIENCE IN PLEA TO RESIST DRUGS

Columba Bush, wife of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, urged a group of middle school
girls to resist the lure of drugs, drawing on her own experience in helping
her daughter battle addiction.

The rally at South Miami Middle School was part of a national campaign --
Soy Unica! Soy Latina! -- to prevent drug abuse among Hispanic girls.

It was one of the few times Columba Bush has spoken publicly about her
daughter Noelle's struggle with drugs.

Noelle Bush, 25, was arrested last January for using a fake prescription to
buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. A judge sentenced her to 10 days in jail
Thursday after she reportedly was found with a piece of crack cocaine in
her shoe while at the Orlando treatment center, where she's been since
February.

"My daughter unfortunately is ill because drug addiction is an illness,"
Columba Bush told reporters before Saturday's rally. "She's been fighting
it for years."

At the event, the Mexican-born governor's wife -- who spoke entirely in
Spanish -- cautioned that drug addiction ensnares the poor and privileged
alike.

"I've learned that drugs are not restricted to any one group or place,"
Bush said. "I have seen the terrible consequences that drug addiction has
on its victims and their family members."