NOELLE BUSH'S TROUBLES

I don't think anyone is going to argue that Noelle Bush would benefit from
a lengthy mandatory prison sentence for possession of crack cocaine ("Truth
or Consequences," periscope, Sept. 23). While I can sympathize with the
Bush family's ongoing troubles with substance abuse, Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush's relentless opposition to the state's short-lived
treatment-instead-of-incarceration ballot initiative is hypocritical, to
say the least. (Proponents of the initiative are expected to put it on the
Florida ballot in 2004.) If drug treatment works for the Bushes, why not
apply the same standard to Americans from less influential families?

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.