LAW ENFORCEMENT - TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

Last Monday, when Jeb Bush's daughter, Noelle, was caught with a small rock
of crack cocaine, it sounded like just another sad story of a troubled
political progeny. But Noelle Bush's third brush with the law this year is
having implications beyond whether the 25-year-old will spend the rest of
her 20s in jail. The Center for Drug-Free Living, the Orlando, Fla.-based
treatment center where Bush has been a patient since the spring, is drawing
criticism from law-enforcement officials over its handling of the
confiscated narcotics. Despite a written policy that dictates calling the
police whenever drugs are found on-site -- the center did call the cops
when Bush was found with pills in July -- the facility didn't call police
this time round; a patient did. And when police arrived, the center's
staff refused to cooperate. (Center officials had no comment on the issue;
a scheduled court appearance on Friday was canceled owing to the clinic's
lack of cooperation, according to authorities.)

"Nobody has the right to possess crack, period," says Sgt. Orlando Rolon of
the Orlando police. Not even a drug-treatment facility, says Rolon, who
thinks that the Bush incident could codify rules for how facilities dispose
of illegal drugs. "Hopefully, changes will take place," he says.

By shielding Bush from the law, the center might not be doing her any
favors. "It's important that addicted people that run into trouble be held
to the same standards," says William C. Moyers of the Hazelden Foundation,
a leading treatment center. "The consequences are often an avenue to recovery."