Pubdate: Wed, 11 Sep 2002
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact:  2002 San Francisco Examiner
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389
Author: Mike Branom, Associated Press 
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

DRUG-ADDICTED BUSH IN TROUBLE AGAIN

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush's 25-year-old daughter was found with what
was believed to be crack at a drug rehab center where she was undergoing
court-ordered treatment, police said. 

If confirmed, it would be Noelle Bush's second lapse since entering rehab
and could result in jail. 

Police late Monday were called to the Center for Drug Free Living in
Orlando, where workers gave them a 0.2-gram rock they said they found in
Bush's shoe, Sgt. Orlando Rolon said. 

The rock tested positive for cocaine in a police field test, but Bush was
not immediately arrested because police could not get rehab center staff
members to cooperate and give sworn statements, Rolon said. 

A patient had called police, but staffers tried to persuade them to let the
center follow its standard policy of handling the matter internally, Rolon
said. 

A spokeswoman for the center, Joan M. Ballard, refused to comment. 

The governor said in Tallahassee: "This is a private issue as it relates to
my daughter and myself and my wife. The road to recovery is a rocky one for
a lot of people that have this kind of problem." 

Her lawyer, Dean Cannon, did not return calls seeking comment. 

Noelle Bush was arrested in January at a pharmacy drive-through window for
allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fraudulent
prescription. She was admitted to the treatment center a month later, with
the possibility charges would be dropped if she completed the program. 

In July, she was found with prescription drugs that had been taken from a
cabinet at the rehab center. She spent three days in jail before being
allowed to return to rehab. 

State Attorney's Office spokesman Randy Means said if Bush is charged with
drug possession, she could be kicked out of the treatment program and
prosecuted on the fraudulent-prescription charge, which is punishable by up
to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 

Possession of less than 10 grams of cocaine carries the same penalty.
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