Pubdate: Tue, 22 Oct 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124

A VOICE OF EXPERIENCE IN PLEA TO RESIST DRUGS

Columba Bush, wife of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, urged a group of middle school 
girls to resist the lure of drugs, drawing on her own experience in helping 
her daughter battle addiction.

The rally at South Miami Middle School was part of a national campaign -- 
Soy Unica! Soy Latina! -- to prevent drug abuse among Hispanic girls.

It was one of the few times Columba Bush has spoken publicly about her 
daughter Noelle's struggle with drugs.

Noelle Bush, 25, was arrested last January for using a fake prescription to 
buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. A judge sentenced her to 10 days in jail 
Thursday after she reportedly was found with a piece of crack cocaine in 
her shoe while at the Orlando treatment center, where she's been since 
February.

"My daughter unfortunately is ill because drug addiction is an illness," 
Columba Bush told reporters before Saturday's rally. "She's been fighting 
it for years."

At the event, the Mexican-born governor's wife -- who spoke entirely in 
Spanish -- cautioned that drug addiction ensnares the poor and privileged 
alike.

"I've learned that drugs are not restricted to any one group or place," 
Bush said. "I have seen the terrible consequences that drug addiction has 
on its victims and their family members."
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