Pubdate: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 Date: 08/26/1999 Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI) Author: Wally Bachman Presidential candidate George W. Bush has refused to answer questions about past cocaine use, saying only that he made "mistakes" when younger. He said, "I'm going to tell people that we need to clean up the process. I'm going to tell people that the politics of personal destruction have got to end." Instead, I hope that candidates such as the former president's son and other elected officials will help heal the wounds of the war on drugs by replacing current counterproductive and expensive prison sentences with realistic, cost-effective treatment programs. The resulting peace will dramatically lower the unacceptable level of violence we see each day in the news. Wally Bachman Via the Internet