XANAX WIDELY PRESCRIBED, OFTEN ABUSED

TALLAHASSEE - Xanax, the sedative police say Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter was
trying to buy when she was arrested on prescription fraud charges, is
commonly prescribed for anxiety and increasingly abused by people seeking
its calming effects.

And once addicted, many people will take desperate actions to get more,
experts say.

Xanax is "fairly easy" to become physically or psychologically addicted to,
said Gail Dixon, a director with DISC (Drug Information Service Center)
Village, a nonprofit substance abuse treatment center in Tallahassee.

"Somebody who had a physiological dependency would feel a strong compulsion
to make certain they were able to maintain and retain the drug in their
system rather than go through the difficulties of withdrawal," Dixon said.

Noelle Bush, the governor's 24-year-old daughter and President George W.
Bush's niece, was arrested at a pharmacy drive-through window Tuesday on
charges of trying to buy Xanax with a fraudulent prescription. Authorities
say she posed as a doctor and called in the phony prescription after
suffering a panic attack Monday evening.

She could get up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted,
although as a first-time offender she would likely get much less. Bush's
attorney, former Florida deputy attorney general Pete Antonacci, did not
return several messages left at his office Tuesday and Wednesday.

About 30 million prescriptions a year are written for Xanax or its generic
equivalent, alprazolam, according to Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., which makes
Xanax. A 2000 survey conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration showed that nearly 5 million people have at
one point taken the drug or a similar anti- anxiety medication for
non-medicinal reasons.

Drug experts say Xanax abusers often take the drug for its calming effect.
The sedative dulls the central nervous system and can make users feel
lightheaded or uncoordinated. Taken in high quantities or mixed with
alcohol or other sedatives, it can cause seizures or death.

Addicts can face uncontrollable anxiety and heart palpitations during
withdrawal, Dixon said.

A National Institute on Drug Abuse report said prescription drugs are
becoming increasingly popular with younger people.

"New prescription drug abuse has dramatically increased among young people
between 12-25 years old and in a 1999 survey, 12-14 year olds named
psychotherapeutics, such as painkillers, sedatives, and stimulants, as some
of their more frequently used drugs," it said. "Young women are more likely
than young men to use psychotherapeutic drugs non-medically."

Jack Stein, a spokesman with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said 9
million people have used prescribed drugs for non-medical reasons, a
quarter of which were first-time users over the previous year.

"This problem is clearly growing," he said.

John Daigle, executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Association, said there are about as many people abusing prescription drugs
as there are people using drugs like heroin and cocaine, but there is less
attention directed at prescription drug abusers.

"It's easy to hide in the sense that you don't have to go into the black
market or the illegal market," he said. "It's easier to access in the sense
that if you present a physician with the symptoms of a panic attack or
stress disorder, a physician in good faith may prescribe" a sedative.

Abusers may start taking the drug legally and later find themselves
addicted, he said. Others may get it from family members or friends who are
legally prescribed the drug.

"Xanax is one of the top prescription drugs that is diverted for illicit
use ... because it is a potent medication and can make significant
difference in a person's physiological and psychological functioning,"
Dixon said.