Bush Hails O.C. Success in Drug War : Narcotics: President joins forces with cartoon characters at stadium rally, declaring the rest of the nation should share ‘the spirit we have here.’

SANTA ANA —  Cheered on by a crowd of screaming and sign-waving school kids, President Bush visited Orange County for the second time in a year Friday to underscore the nationwide scourge of drugs and highlight the county’s successes in combatting it.

Bush stood in front of colorful banners with cartoon characters and anti-drug slogans as he told about 13,000 elementary and high school students packed into Santa Ana Stadium, “Anyone who thinks America lacks the will to win the drug war better take a look at the spirit we have here today in Orange County.”

The President, who was joined on the dais by more than 50 law enforcement, business and political leaders, also called special attention to the Drug Use Is Life Abuse Foundation, a public awareness and drug education group founded by Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates.

“ ‘Drug Use Is Life Abuse’ is the right message because its goal is not punishing those who are hooked on drugs but deterring kids from even getting started,” Bush said. “That message is beginning to sink in.”

Last April, Bush visited Orange County for an anti-drug speech at the remote Rancho del Rio, a 213-acre former drug-smuggling hide-out that was seized by authorities in a raid. Bush at that time presented Gates with a $4.4-million check representing money that was seized during the investigation.

This time, Bush highlighted the sheriff’s drug-abuse foundation, a privately funded partnership between business and law enforcement leaders that has produced anti-drug brochures for students and an almost ubiquitous logo in Orange County that is now on company trucks, high school sports uniforms, hamburger wrappers and grocery bags.

Bush also provided what little was known about a large drug seizure of cocaine in the Anaheim area.

“Just two nights ago, right here here in Orange County, two cars were pulled over carrying nearly 900 pounds of cocaine,” he said. “Thanks to your courageous anti-narcotics efforts, 4 million doses, with a street value of $30 million, won’t poison our kids,” he said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department later confirmed the President’s information but refused to provide any more details. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dick Olson said later that the “investigation is continuing. We won’t be able to release any details about the raid until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest.”

The theme of drug abuse has been worked into Bush’s message throughout his public appearances on a four-day visit to Southern California. Bush will leave the state Sunday after a summit meeting today in Palm Springs with Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu.

Earlier Friday in Hollywood, Bush praised the efforts of the television industry for using its power to bring about a change in America’s attitudes toward drug abuse.

In a speech that was interrupted briefly when two members of the audience shouted out complaints that the Bush Administration was not doing enough to fight AIDS, the president said, “The days when popular culture glorified and glamorized drug use are fading fast.”

Bush also lauded the anti-drug messages incorporated into Saturday morning cartoon shows.

“Twenty million kids. Impressionable. Just asking to be entertained. And let me tell you something: Those 20 million kids in front of their TVs on any Saturday morning are the same target audience for every schoolyard drug pusher, five days a week,” Bush said.

“Never before in cartoon history have Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck worked with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Muppets, the Smurfs and all the other stars of the cartoon world,” he added, offering praise for Roy Disney, the executive producer and vice chairman of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co. “for keeping all those egos in line.”

In Orange County, Bush also saluted one of its Hollywood heroes in his noontime speech.

“We’ll win the war on drugs because you have what a longtime resident of Orange County, John Wayne, had--true grit,” he said.

Urging the youngsters to shun drugs, Bush quoted the late cowboy actor: “ ‘There’s right, and there’s wrong. You gotta do one or the other. You do the one, and you’re living. You do the other, and you may be walking around, but you’re as dead as a beaver hat.’ ”

Bush also singled out two local heroes in the fight against drugs, both of whom were seated with him on the stage.

Santa Ana Police Detective Henry Cousin was severely wounded in a drug raid three years ago, but “Henry wouldn’t quit,” Bush said. Bush also noted a Santa Ana woman, Rosa Perez, for her six-year battle to rid her neighborhood of drug dealers.

Security at the outdoor football and soccer stadium was heavy. Officers were perched on several rooftops surrounding the field. Mounted police roamed Flower Street and Civic Center Drive, and everyone who entered the stadium went through airport-style metal detectors.

In the stands and on the grass field, students sat in areas designated for their schools. They waved small yellow flags with the Drug Use Is Life Abuse logo and held placards, some of which read: “My Choice, Drug Free,” “Love Not Drugs” and “Drugs ‘R’ Out.”

Most of the students were from the Santa Ana Unified School District. Monte Vista Elementary School Principal Don Tibbetts brought 30 students to the rally, and they got to sit right behind the VIP section, with a good view of the stage.

“We hope this makes the positive impact on our kids that we hope it will,” Tibbetts said. “They’re excited about seeing the President. Heck, I’ve never seen one, I’m excited.”

One of his students, 10 year-old Dianna Lopez, agreed. “My parents said I was lucky to come here and that they were proud of me,” she said.

Several dignitaries and celebrities addressed the crowd before the President’s speech, including the Crystal Cathedral’s Rev. Robert Schuller, Sheriff Gates, Gov. George Deukmejian and actor Chuck Norris.

The dais also included most the Santa Ana City Council and the County Board of Supervisors, several local police chiefs, the board of directors of the Drug Abuse Is Life Abuse Foundation and four local congressmen.

Deukmejian thanked Bush for designating Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County as “high-intensity” drug areas, clearing the way for more federal help in fighting the area’s severe narcotics problems.

The governor also told the students, “The power to put the drug dealers out of business rests with you. If you don’t buy, they don’t sell.”

Earlier in the day, Bush told some of the leading Hollywood executives that even though the interdiction of drugs is an important element in the anti-drug equation, big drug busts won’t be enough.

In the effort to drive down the demand for drugs, Bush told the executives, each of them has “a unique ability to inform, and to change attitudes, and to catalyze public action in our fight against drug abuse.”

Bush’s Century Plaza Hotel speech to the Hollywood executives was interrupted when the first of two protesters stood up and shouted, “Why don’t you ever talk about AIDS? Why don’t you lead the country on AIDS?”

As the audience began to boo the interruption, the man continued: “We need treatments now! It’s not a laughing matter Mr. Bush!” And to the television industry audience, he said, “Are you people helping? Let’s hear something about that, George!”

As the first man was hustled out by security guards, a second man took up the protest, standing up and calling out a similar message until he, too, was led out.

The two were taken away in handcuffs from the hotel.

After pausing in his text, Bush said, “We have increased federal help to an all-time high on AIDS.”

The President, who was interrupted by a much larger protest three weeks ago when he spoke at a Republican Party fund-raising dinner at the same hotel, continued: “I have come a long way in my political maturity. This guy’s intervention didn’t bother me one bit.”

Staff writers Cathleen Decker, Bob Schwartz, Tony Marcano and Lily Eng contributed to this report.

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