Pubdate: Thur,19AUG 1999 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/ SAYS NO COCAINE IN 7 YEARS; WON'T TALK ABOUT EARLIER LIFE HOUSTON - An agitated Texas Gov. George W. Bush, pressed by a reporter about persistent rumors that he had once used cocaine, said yesterday that he has not used drugs in the past seven years but refused to answer other questions about illegal drug use before that time. During what was supposed to be a routine news conference in Austin Bush tried to dismiss questions about whether he ever used illegal drugs as "ridiculous and absurd rumors," adding I know they are being planted, and they are ridiculous and they're absurd, and the people of America are sick and tired of this kind of politics and I am not participating." In a rising voice, Bush continued, interrupting a reporter who said she was trying to ask who might be planting such rumors. "You know what happens, somebody floats a rumor and it causes you to ask a question," Bush said. "And that's the game in American politics, and I refuse to play it. That is a game. And you just fell for the trap. And I refuse to play." Later, during a campaign stop in New Orleans, Bush changed his response after the Dallas Morning News questioned him about the requirement that federal employees answer questions about drug use to get high-level security clearances. "As I understand it, the current form asks the question, 'Did somebody use drugs within the last seven years? and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer is no," the News quoted Bush as saying in a story for today's editions. Bush, who is 53, would not elaborate beyond the seven-year time frame. He said that if elected, he would make po change in the federal policy that requires high-level presidential appointees to answer questions about drug use in the standard FBI background check. "It's a legitimate question to ask to make sure there are no drug users on the White House staff," Bush told the newspaper. But, he added, "The president should recognize that some people may have made mistakes when they were younger, and the question the president must ask is, did they learn from tl~ose mistakes and will they not repeat them again." The questions are hardly new for Bush. Ever since he defeated incumbent Democrat Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election, Bush has walked a fine line as to which personal questions he will answer and which he will not. In particular, he has refused - to say whether he has ever used illegal drugs, often offering the same wry reply: 'When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible." Bush has been asked repeatedly about whether he used illegal drugs, including cocaine, earlier in his life, although no credible allegations have been made that he did so. A number of papers have looked into rumors about drug use and have found no evidence to sustain them. In May, the Wall Street journal dedicated an article to the proliferation of the rumors and the absence of any proof. Thbe issue seems to have had little effect on Bush's standing, even in a conservative, law-and-order state like Texas, where he has pushed for tougher penalties against drug users. But as the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Bush is finding that his stock response has not doused the questions, unfounded or not, but has seemingly done the opposite. AD of Bush's rivals for the Republican nomination have said they never used cocaine. Scott McClellan, a Bush campaign spokesman, characterized the issue yesterday as "baseless allegations and ridiculous rumors." But McClellan added: 'What he may or may not have done in the past is not the question we should be asking. It is, 'Has he learned from his mistakes?' and the answer is yes." Bush and his campaign staff have admitted that he made what they have described as youthful mistakes. In several profiles, the governor has admitted that he drank too much beer and bourbon until swearing off alcohol on his 40th birthday. Although he has refused to answer questions about drugs, Bush has said without equivocation that he has remained faithful to his wife, Laura, throughout their marriage. "The important facts that people deserve to know about have to do with how he has fulfilled his duties as father, husband, governor and employer," McClellan said. "Ihese are the relevant questions about how he will fulfill his responsibilities." But as governor, Bush has taken the lead on several antidrug efforts, consistent with his own law-and-order philosophy. In November 1996, .after receiving reports of increased drug use among teenagers, Bush said,-'We must speak with one clear voice to warn children and grownups of the dangers of drugs." In 1997, he signed a law that toughened penalties for people arrested for selling or possessing less than one gram of cocaine. Previously, state sentencing guidelines required that a judge give mandatory probation in such cases, McClellan said. Under the change signed by Bush, judges now are allowed to sentence such offenders to time in jail. In 1995, Bush signed a law that increased the punishment for anyone arrested for selling or posseing illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of a school or a school bus. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea