TEARFUL BUSH GRATEFUL FOR SUPPORT

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush choked back a sob Tuesday when he thanked
a crowd of about 400 people for their support following the January
arrest of his daughter, Noelle, on prescription fraud charges. The
occasion was the state's fourth annual drug summit.

"I want to thank you on behalf of my wife for your prayers and for
your quiet counseling in the last few months about our daughter,
Noelle," Bush said.

Bush stopped briefly, bringing his hand to his face, as tears welled
in his eyes.

Bush was every bit the angry father when he continued his speech,
cheering the defeat of a proposed constitutional amendment that sought
to steer drug offenders into treatment.

The effort, bankrolled by a group of investors that includes New York
billionaire George Soros, stalled last month when organizers halted
their petition drive. Modeled after Proposition 36, which California
adopted in 2000, the Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for
Nonviolent Drug Offenses amendment was aimed at undoing harsh
anti-drug laws.

Bush considers it a stealth attempt at legalization.

If successful, the amendment would have devastated the state's drug
courts, Bush said.

That's where Noelle Bush, 24, could end up. She was charged with
impersonating a doctor in a call to a pharmacy where she tried to
obtain a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. She is
undergoing treatment.

Bush said his vision of a drug war is a two-pronged attack: Fighting
the supply end by rounding up drug dealers and fighting demand through
prevention and treatment.

Bush has called for cutting Florida drug use in half by 2005. He
unveiled the latest statistics that show drug users are down from 8
percent of the state's population in 1999 to 5.5 percent last year.

Bush later apologized for crying. He blamed it on an emotional streak
he traces back to his father, former President George H.W. Bush.

"It's been tough personally, but it doesn't change my resolve for
making this an incredibly high priority," Bush said. "Bush men always
cry, I apologize. It's a little genetic problem I got from my dad."