Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bush blasts proposition that would offer drug users treatment
AP ^ | 5/18/2002 | staff

Posted on 05/19/2002 10:42:52 AM PDT by tragic coup

Gov. Jeb Bush called a ballot proposition that would allow some drug offenders to escape imprisonment by entering treatment programs "misleading" and said it would "destroy" Florida's drug court program.

Bush, addressing 45 graduates of Miami-Dade County's drug court Friday, said he was disappointed with the state Supreme Court's decision Thursday to allow the proposition onto the 2004 ballot.

"This amendment would destroy the best drug court system in the country," Bush said in an address simulcast to similar graduation ceremonies statewide. "It would require that first- and second-time offenders, irrespective of what their crime was, be given treatment. What the drug court does is provide services, but also says there's a consequence."

But the Campaign for New Drug Policies, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based organization that is spearheading the proposed "Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for Non-Violent Drug Offenses," maintains that their proposal does include consequences, in some cases more severe than the penalties doled out by drug courts.

"When you wash out of this program, you go to jail. When you are removed for cause from your treatment program, you go to jail," political director Dave Fratello said. "And if it did replace the drug courts, it would replace them with a bigger system that's virtually identical."

Drug court, which Bush said is more cost-effective and helpful to offenders than prison, is a court-supervised program administered by judges and treatment counselors. The proposed amendment is quite similar, where drug offenders would be spared prosecution or sentencing upon successful completion or 18 months in treatment.

Bush's daughter Noelle has been undergoing treatment since her Jan. 29 arrest on charges of trying to buy Xanax with a fraudulent prescription. Bush, who said his daughter is doing well in her treatment, acknowledged that his daughter's situation will be part of the campaign by those who support the proposed amendment.

"I'm proud to have been part of this movement, to really create a comprehensive strategy to deal with the problems of drug and alcohol abuse in our state," Bush told the graduates.

Fratello's group still needs to collect more than 400,000 signatures before actually being placed on the 2004 ballot. Fratello said Friday that there is no guarantee that the group will collect the required signatures, or even if they will make the attempt to complete the process of reaching the ballot.

"There's no plan for that in place right now," Fratello said.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: hypocrisy
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last
What was the so-called "consequence" for Bush's daughter?

Jeb is probably the slimiest member of the Bush family.

1 posted on 05/19/2002 10:42:52 AM PDT by tragic coup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: tragic coup
Gov. Jeb Bush called a ballot proposition that would allow some drug offenders to escape imprisonment by entering treatment programs "misleading" and said it would "destroy" Florida's drug court program.

Bush, addressing 45 graduates of Miami-Dade County's drug court Friday, said he was disappointed with the state Supreme Court's decision Thursday to allow the proposition onto the 2004 ballot.

YES FINALLY LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK OUT ON THIS ISSUE. END THE DRUG WAR! IT IS WASTING OUR TAX MONEY AND IT WASTING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO SIT IN JAILS WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF EARLY RELEASE UNDER FEDERAL LAWS. I FOR ONE FIND THIS STORY OUT OF FLORIDA - GOOD NEWS!

2 posted on 05/19/2002 10:58:05 AM PDT by Lucas1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucas1;summer;floriduhvoter
This ballot proposal is a nuclear weapon aimed at the heart of the drug war and will take away our biggest stick - incarceration. Summer, I hope your teacher friends continue to tell their students that drugs are bad and that their parents should be scared to death of this proposals. Florida LEOS, don't let this ballot proposal pass. Anyone who uses drugs, sells drugs, or possesses drugs should be locked away for a long time.

Tell your family, friends and loved ones that this MUST NOT STAND.

3 posted on 05/19/2002 11:05:05 AM PDT by VA Advogado
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: tragic coup
Watch it-Summer is goin' to slap you down.
4 posted on 05/19/2002 11:30:16 AM PDT by miamimark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
Anyone who uses drugs, sells drugs, or possesses drugs should be locked away for a long time.

Should this apply to politico's families also?

5 posted on 05/19/2002 11:32:10 AM PDT by miamimark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
Keep filling up the jails baby!!! More tax dollars to support victimless crimes....brilliant idea!!!!

THE DRUG WAR IS A WASTE OF MONEY, END IT NOW AND TAKE AWAY THE PROFIT MOTIVE!!!

6 posted on 05/19/2002 12:00:34 PM PDT by zarf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
End the WOD and then we deal with totalitarians like you. You have no right to tell me what I can and connot put in my body in the privacy of my home. But what you really want is control. Yeah thats it, your life sucks so you want to mess with other folks lives. Well that just stinks. And your black market with all its death, graft, and corruption, you'll just have to get used to all that being gone.. But you probably like that because it justifies your usurping others of their rights.
7 posted on 05/19/2002 12:39:46 PM PDT by corkoman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: corkoman
I say we stop the war on drugs and end ALL help and/or payments to losers like you when you get sick or totally whacked out.

Just sign on the dotted line to NEVER ask anybody, including your health plan, auto insurance company, and especially not the tax payers of this country, to pay ONE DIME for the consequences of your choice.

8 posted on 05/19/2002 12:44:46 PM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
 
Tell your family, friends and loved
ones that this MUST NOT STAND.

What MUST NOT STAND is deliberate
efforts to keep items from coming to a vote.
This isn't a theocracy, yet.

9 posted on 05/19/2002 12:53:12 PM PDT by gcruse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: tragic coup
Jeb is probably the slimiest member of the Bush family.

Why? Because he doesn't favor the socialist-libertarian "solution" to drug abuse, i.e., coddle abusers, treat them as victims, and rehabilitate them on the public dime?

10 posted on 05/19/2002 12:57:02 PM PDT by Kevin Curry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kevin Curry
The libertarians would have no public rehab at all it would strictly be rehab libertarians would not have any social programs period.
11 posted on 05/19/2002 1:11:24 PM PDT by weikel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: weikel
The libertarians would have no public rehab at all

Good!

I'm against both prison AND treatment for drug users. Just leave people alone who are leaving others alone. If someone commits an actual crime while on drugs, then arrest and prosecute them. But drugs in and of themselves should not be criminal, but they also should not "entitle" anyone to any free treatment.

13 posted on 05/19/2002 1:58:10 PM PDT by southern rock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: tragic coup
Bush...said he was disappointed with the state Supreme Court's decision Thursday to allow the proposition onto the 2004 ballot.

Yeah, politicos hate it when the voters get their hands on some power. I'm more than willing to listen to arguments as to why this might not be a good proposal, but the subtext here is that the voters are too dumb to make the right choice, so they shouldn't be allowed to.

Thank God for ballot measures. If only we could get the governement to *obey* them.
14 posted on 05/19/2002 2:03:40 PM PDT by BostonGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: miamimark
Should this apply to politico's families also?

Absolutely. No slack when it comes to drugs. NO SLACK.

15 posted on 05/19/2002 4:20:29 PM PDT by VA Advogado
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: southern rock
I agree completely libertarian foreign policy is the one thing that is stupid thats why I'm an objectivist.
16 posted on 05/19/2002 7:34:06 PM PDT by weikel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: southern rock
I'm against both prison AND treatment for drug users. Just leave people alone who are leaving others alone. If someone commits an actual crime while on drugs, then arrest and prosecute them. But drugs in and of themselves should not be criminal, but they also should not "entitle" anyone to any free treatment.

I agree with you statement 100% It is not the business of the State or Federal Government to determine whether I should or should not get high. If one commits a crime while high then arrest them for that crime...but not for being high.

17 posted on 05/19/2002 10:15:50 PM PDT by Lucas1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
If this is a state measure that Bush already disagrees with, can't we call or email him? I didn't have a chance to see the entire article. Is this Jeb Bush or George W. Bush? Please advise. WE SHOULD CALL THE APPROPRIATE BUSH BROTHER. Jeb voted against the phone bill increase because everybody including the aarp called him.
18 posted on 05/20/2002 6:27:03 AM PDT by floriduh voter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
Okay, we're talking about Jeb. Sorry I'm foggy today.
19 posted on 05/20/2002 6:28:32 AM PDT by floriduh voter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: miamimark
Apparently, your family tree doesn't have any members who suffer from panic attacks that lead to desperation. That's the real story the anti-Jeb crowd is conveniently forgetting.

And why are we putting everyone under a BIG UMBRELLA here? What happened to judging on a case by case basis? That way we get the dealers and drug runners off the street, for at least a number of years. They are the culprits. We also on a case by case basis, get the offenders who are DANGERS TO SOCIETY off the streets; like x-42.

20 posted on 05/20/2002 6:35:24 AM PDT by floriduh voter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson