Noelle Bush's Case Highlights Drug War Flaws PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 256 Oct 4, 2002 The continuing sad odyssey of Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, took another turn earlier this week as a court in Orlando ruled that the employees of the treatment center she is living at cannot be forced to testify against her in pending criminal charges of crack cocaine possession. It is definitely reasonable to many people that Ms Bush's time in the Center for Drug Free Living should be kept from the public eye so as to better assist her and the professionals there who seek to assist her in dealing with her drug abuse issues. What is clear to most everyone is that Noelle Bush's case highlights the problems associated with drug prohibition. Since she was forced into treatment by virtue of her criminal charges last January, she is subject to a solid prison term should she fail to meet the terms of the drug court. Governor Bush is thus brought face to face with the reality that prison cells do nothing to assist drug abusers and so he of course does not want to see his own daughter subject to such sanctions. Indeed the situation in Florida prisons is even worse following Bush's elimination of state funded in-prison drug treatment this past January (the legislature later restored 40% of those monies). According to FL Drug Czar James McDonough, over 80% of Florida's inmate population of almost 75,000 (about 60,000) suffer from some form of drug abuse behavior or habits. WRITE A LETTER TODAY! Please consider writing to any of the Florida newspapers and/or the other newspapers that have carried the recent updates of Noelle's story and telling them how you feel about the hypocrisy of protecting some citizens from jail, while others who have committed equal or lesser crimes must suffer in jail or prison. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, email messages, etc.) Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit. This is _Very_ Important as it is one very effective way of gauging our impact and effectiveness. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Following is a list of links to Florida newspapers that have carried coverage of Noelle's court case. Unlike many LTEs you need not reference a specific headline or story. Simply referencing Noelle's case should be sufficient to provide proper context to your letter. The biggest paper in the state(circulation)is the St Petersburg Times Other major market papers are: Tampa Tribune: Miami Herald: Orlando Sentinel: Florida Times-Union(Jacksonville): South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Palm Beach Post: Florida Today(Melbourne/SpaceCoast): http://www.floridatoday.com/forms/services/letters.htm Bradenton Herald: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/contact_us/feedback/ Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gainesville Sun: The Ledger(Lakeland): News-Press(Ft Myers): Pensacola News-Journal: Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Tallahassee Democrat: EXTRA CREDIT Please write your local newspapers on this subject as well. To find the Letter to the Editor email addresses for your area newspapers go to http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm Use the "List by Area" drop down to select and display your area. Then click on "contact" to obtain the contact information for each newspaper. SAMPLE LETTER (Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work.) Dear Editor: To the editor: The Noelle Bush case strongly highlights the hypocrisy and flaws inherent in Governor Jeb Bush's drug policies. While it is appropriate for Noelle to have anonymity in her drug treatment setting, it is unfortunate that she has access to such protections while thousands of other non-violent drug offenders rot in jail cages. This past January, Governor Bush eliminated the entire state funding for in-prison drug treatment programs (the legislature later restored about 40% of these monies). With over 80% of Florida jail inmates having some form of drug abuse problem, most will languish without needed attention and therefore their chances of recidivism and continued drug abuse problems will remain upon their release from jail. It seems that Mr Bush wants it both ways. He harshly slashes drug treatment options in the prison system but then uses his legal team to protect his own daughter from such a fate. It seems only right that he must either allow his daughter to be prosecuted fully or he should reconsider fully funding in-prison drug treatment for the 60,000 Floridians who lack Noelle's legal resources. Or maybe, GASP, Bush could reconsider the entire policy of making Floridians who have committed no other crime than drug possession be subject to jail sanctions in the first place. Respectfully, Stephen Heath Clearwater FL (Always include your address and phone number for newspaper verification. Most papers will not print your letter otherwise. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts, Please See: Writer's Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ Prepared by: Stephen Heath for the Drug Policy Forum of Florida http://www.dpffl.org Focus Alert Specialist

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