Both have publicly acknowledged a problem with alcohol, for which Ms. Richards sought treatment and Mr. Bush quit on his own. During the Richards administration, state crime laws were also rewritten to harden penalties for violent criminals. To make room for the thousands serving longer sentences, some drug penalties were modified. Mr. Bush lambasted Ms. Richards for signing that law, which provided automatic probation for possessing less than 1 gram of hard drugs. The probation carried up to three months in prison but did not increase for repeat offenders.
Judges can still grant probation to first-time offenders.
Other drug-law changes during Mr. Bush's tenure include enhanced penalties for possessing drugs in a school zone, making that a felony in all cases. During his first four years in office, the number of inmates in prison on drug offenses jumped from 17,087 to 28,636, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Much of the increase is linked to prison growth - the number of beds jumped from almost 80,000 to 132,000 during his first term. Mr. Bush has also approved laws that allow driver's licenses, welfare benefits and college grants to be withheld from drug users. During the 1980s, Texas made almost every drug offense a felony, and those rules were softened when the criminal statutes were rewritten, he said.