FLORIDA'S DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY IS WORKING

Robyn Blumner's polemic of Sept. 29 (Sentiment is changing about
punishment in drug crimes) takes a swipe at Gov. Jeb Bush's drug
control policies by way of his daughter's illness. In so doing, her
style is as tawdry as her argument is flawed. Contrary to her
assertions, Jeb Bush has prioritized treatment as one of the three
main legs of his drug control strategy (along with prevention and law
enforcement). That is why he has increased drug treatment budgets for
children by 77 percent, and for adults by 38 percent. He has also more
than doubled the number of drug courts, which offer treatment in lieu
of incarceration, exactly what Blumner favors.

Indeed, along with 11,000 other Floridians last year, Noelle Bush has
elected the drug court option. Many have problems in breaking free of
their addiction, but in the end most make it. Among the reasons for
the high success rate is the prospect of criminal responsibility for
the original offense should they give up their struggle to get clean.

For that very reason, Florida's entire treatment community rejected
the failed constitutional amendment that Blumner champions. In its
call for treatment on demand as a "right," it negated the concept of
individual responsibility for drug use -- a sure-fire guarantee for
failure. By the time it was withdrawn, the Florida Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Association, law enforcement organizations, prosecutors,
treatment and prevention agencies, and drug court professionals
opposed the proposition. Despite a year of spending money to gain
signatures, the backers had gathered only one-fifth of the required
numbers to put it on the ballot.

In the meantime, Florida's treatment opportunities continue to expand,
drug use -- especially by children -- is going down consistently and
dramatically, more than 600 drug traffickers have been put behind
bars, and drug smuggling has been increasingly interdicted. Robyn
Blumner may not like that, but it is Florida's drug control strategy
and it's working.

JAMES R. MCDONOUGH
Director, Florida Office of
Drug Control, Tallahassee