GOV. BUSH HAS CRACK HOUSE DIVIDED

I feel nothing but sympathy and concern for Noelle Bush. Her latest stumble
on the rocky road to recovery - being caught with crack cocaine at a drug
rehab center - shows that she is in desperate need of help.

As a parent, I can also easily empathize with the anguish Noelle's father,
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, must be experiencing. And I'm in total agreement
with his insistence that his daughter's substance abuse problem is "a
private issue."

But when I think about the heartless stance the governor has taken toward
the drug problems of those less-fortunate and well-connected than his
daughter, my empathy turns to outrage.

While Noelle has been given every break in the book - and then some - her
father has made it harder for others in her position to get the help they
need by cutting the budget for drug treatment programs in his state.

He has also actively opposed a proposed ballot initiative that would send
an estimated 10,000 nonviolent drug offenders into treatment instead of
jail. I guess what's good for the goose, gets the gander locked away.

Of course, Jeb's wildly inconsistent attitude on the issue - treatment and
privacy for his daughter, incarceration and public humiliation for everyone
else - is part and parcel of the galling hypocrisy that infects America's
insane drug war on every level.

The latest example of this madness is last week's early morning DEA raid on
a medical marijuana club in Santa Cruz, Calif., that caters to terminally
ill patients.

Although the hospice-style operation has been lauded by local law
enforcement officials for its caring and ethical approach, federal agents
stormed the place with guns drawn and chain saws whirring - leveling its
pot garden and handcuffing ailing patients, including a paraplegic.

So much for the Bush administration's compassionate conservatism. And its
conservative consistency. Back when he was running for president, George W.
Bush declared that medical marijuana is a states' rights issue.

Then how come he's allowed John Ashcroft to order a holy-roller war against
cannabis clubs in California, even though it is one of 12 states that have
decriminalized the use of pot for medical purposes?

Surely there has got to be a better use of our limited law enforcement
resources than busting grievously ill cancer and AIDS patients searching
for relief from their suffering. How about unearthing a terrorist cell or two?

And the White House continues to bombard us with those offensive - and
expensive - TV spots implying that youthful drug users like Noelle Bush are
the moral equivalent of Mohammed Atta.

Maybe her Uncle George can get her an audition for the next round of
taxpayer-funded ads. Show her pulling some crack out of her shoe while
saying, "I helped blow up buildings."

Or does that kind of overheated and stigmatizing rhetoric apply only to
those other, non-Bush-family, youthful drug users? After all, a glaring
double standard has been a hallmark of our nation's drug policy for
decades. It's why blacks make up only 13 percent of the country's drug
users but 74 percent of those sent to jail on possession charges.

If America's drug laws were applied consistently, Jeb Bush and his family
would be evicted from their publicly funded digs, just as people living in
public housing can be thrown out of their homes if any household member or
guest is found using drugs - even if the drug use happened someplace other
than in the housing project.

And Noelle could find herself joining the tens of thousands of young people
unable to get a college education because of a provision in the Higher
Education Act that denies financial aid to students convicted of possessing
illegal drugs.

But the rich and powerful are judged by a very different set of rules.
That's why the staff at Noelle's rehab center tore up a sworn statement
incriminating Noelle even though the facility's standard policy is to turn
all such matters over to the police.

If, through her pain, Noelle Bush can help open her family's minds as well
as their hearts and force them to rethink their disastrous drug policy, the
nation - and millions of young Americans in particular - will owe her a
tremendous debt of gratitude.

I wish her much luck.