You can’t accuse Gawker of not always trying to play the “Gotcha!” game. Their latest target: Jeb Bush, who, they say, is capitalizing on his daughter Noelle Bush’s addiction in order to spotlight his own presidential aspirations. It started with the Republican candidate mentioning Noelle’s struggles at a forum on heroin addiction in Hooksett, New Jersey, the highlights of which were covered by the NY Times. He also wrote an uncharacteristically honest piece for Medium elaborating on his connection to the addiction. To make their case, Gawker mentions an email Bush sent in 2003 asking the Miami Herald to lay off his daughter after she was in trouble for myriad issues in 2002, including trying to illegally score Xanax with a another person’s script, stealing drugs from her court-appointed rehab and an incident involving crack cocaine in a shoe.
That Was Then and This Is Now
Look, I’d imagine that the Bush family would request the press pipe down in the midst of all that stress, drama and heartbreak for their daughter and their family. The fact that he’s willing to talk about it over 10 years later, when he’s running for the highest office in the land, isn’t a big damn deal to me—regardless of what’s in it for him.
For one thing, there has been significant time for the entire family to heal and process the situation. Additionally, his daughter is apparently working full-time in Orlando and doing okay. I assume she’s sober and in recovery. If she’s not, she’s at least staying out of the legal system and holding down a job. In one of many articles I’ve read about her, she’s described as “fragile” but who wouldn’t be if they’d experienced such turmoil in a public arena, all while being a member of one of the most prominent families in Unites States history?
One would assume now that the Bush family is (hopefully) on the other side of it all, he’s more comfortable talking about it. And as I pointed out in another story about Republicans suddenly talking about drugs a lot, he might as well address Noelle’s past, knowing it will eventually be brought up anyway.
How Bush Plans To Deal with Drug Dealin’
Bush using his daughter’s story to segue into his proposed policy legislation for drug-related issues and crimes is fine by me. It only serves to showcase his personal interest in the cause. Why is that a bad thing?
He breaks down his plan for tackling the opiate epidemic in his Medium post with a proposed policy overhaul includes greater preventative measures, strengthening border control (beat it, Mexican drug cartels), cracking down on pill mills, criminal justice reform and improving the current addiction and recovery programs. He explains his plan of action in detail but as expected, some of it gets bogged down with classic politician glittering generalities. Case in point: “Drug abuse and addiction prevention efforts must start in childhood,” he writes. “That begins with dedicated parents, strong communities and local education. The private sector must also be committed to joining this fight to achieve success, including coalitions driven by local communities and involving health, local law enforcement and social services professionals.”
Coalitions? What’s that, JB? Can you elaborate, please?
He does elaborate a little more when he gets into how he’s going to improve current programs: “I will strengthen and coordinate Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) to monitor and analyze electronic prescribing and dispensing data,” he writes. “I will promote innovation for a suite of treatment and recovery tools that align with individuals’ unique medical needs and beliefs.”
Bush is promoting boosting the concept of individualized treatment and more carefully monitoring the mountains of prescriptions Americans are filling. Both sound like reasonable, practical goals to me.
He’s a little off the mark in some ways though. In the previously mentioned New Hampshire forum centered around the state’s heroin epidemic, he talks about wanting to jail “dealers” for life, but having compassion and hope for “users” being able to get better. I’m pretty sure users often become dealers and vice-a-versa. Maybe not necessarily with the king pin of a South American drug cartel but in general, I think dealers are often struggling just as much as users.
Any Talk is Good Talk
Presidential hopefuls Fiorina, Christie and Bush are all talkin’ drugs. No matter who gets elected (okay, let’s get real, none of them will get elected), I’m so glad we’re at a period in history where political candidates can talk about these matters openly. Gone are the days of the ridiculous fear of being deemed a moral failure if they or someone close to them has battled substance abuse. If addiction continues to be a hush-hush label of tarnish for a family, we will never be able to make significant progress in treating the problem.
So as a nod to you and your campaign slogan, I say good on you, Jeb!
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