COCAINE WOES FOR BUSH NIECE

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush's 25-year-old daughter was found with what
was believed to be crack cocaine at a rehabilitation centre, police said
yesterday.

If confirmed, it would be her second lapse since entering court-ordered
drug treatment.

Police were called to the Center for Drug Free Living in Orlando late
Monday, where workers gave them a "white, rocklike substance" they said
they found in Noelle Bush's shoe, police Sgt. Orlando Rolon said.

The 0.2-gram rock tested positive for cocaine in a police field test, but
Bush wasn't immediately arrested because police couldn't obtain sworn
statements from people at the centre, Rolon said.

Police said staffers at the centre tried to persuade the officer to let the
matter be handled in-house and didn't co-operate by providing statements.
The officer originally had been summoned by a patient, police said.

A spokeswoman for the centre, Joan Ballard, refused to comment.

Possession A Felony

Possession of any amount of cocaine is a felony.

The investigation will continue, said Rolon, who added that police hadn't
interviewed Noelle Bush as of late morning.

Noelle is the niece of U.S. President George W. Bush.

The governor said he wouldn't discuss her situation.

"This is a private issue as it relates to my daughter and myself and my
wife," he said. "The road to recovery is a rocky one for a lot of people
that have this kind of problem. I don't have any details about what
happened. I just found out."

Fraudulent Prescription

Noelle Bush was arrested in January at a Tallahassee, Fla., pharmacy
drive-through window for allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug
Xanax with a fraudulent prescription.

She was admitted to the treatment centre a month later, with the
possibility charges would be dropped if she completed the program.

But in July, she was found to be in contempt of court because a worker at
the treatment centre found her carrying prescription pills, which belonged
to another worker and had been taken from a cabinet. Circuit Judge Reginald
Whitehead sent her to jail for three days.

Court spokeswoman Karen Levey said if Noelle Bush violates a drug court
contract, Whitehead could sanction her with more jail time.

But State Attorney's Office spokesman Randy Means said that if Bush is
charged with drug possession, she could be kicked out of her treatment
program. She could then face punishment for the Tallahassee crime as well
as any Orlando case.

Bush's lawyer, Dean Cannon, did not return calls seeking comment.