DRUG TREATMENT IS A PRIORITY, MUCH NEEDS TO BE DONE

Re: "Wrong direction on money for drug treatment" (Our Opinion, Feb.
3).

We agree with the Tallahassee Democrat that lowering drug abuse in
general and expanding drug treatment is a priority in Florida. That is
why Gov. Bush has been so strong on these issues, appointing a state
drug control coordinator, publishing a balanced strategy and
increasing funds for both treatment and prevention each year of his
administration.

When a recession and a terrorist attack combined to impact Florida's
revenue, the Legislature was required by law to put the budget back
into balance. This meant that many areas of high priority took
proportional cuts, drug control being no exception. What's interesting
is that when Gov. Bush put forward his budget for this session, the
first thing he restored was drug treatment funding for Department of
Correction probationers.

We certainly have much more to do to address the massive problem of
drug abuse in our state, but in his three years in office, Jeb Bush
has put in place programs for lowering drug abuse that emphasize
prevention, treatment and respect for the law. He has more than
doubled the number of drug courts, expanded the state's annual
treatment and prevention budget, visited countless treatment and
prevention centers and led the rallying cry of concerned parents and
neighborhoods to turn their children away from drug abuse and bring
help to the afflicted.

We have a ways to go to meet our objective of cutting drug abuse in
half. We also need to bring down youth drinking, the greatest
substance abuse by our children. But we have a strategy in place to
get us there, and a sustained budget to fund it. Most important, we
have a governor committed to this effort.

JAMES R. MCDONOUGH
Director Florida Office of Drug Control