ASHINGTON - George Bush says his son, George W., never gave his parents reason to believe he used drugs and is right not to answer further questions about the issue.
The elder Bush is not advising his son's 2000 presidential campaign - ''I don't want to always be in the game anymore,'' he said. The former president also hopes Americans elect someone who can live up to the '' very high standards'' for the White House that he says Bill Clinton has failed to meet.
The elder Bush, defeated by Clinton in 1992, spoke in a television interview from his family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. A transcript was released before the scheduled broadcast tonight on the Fox News Channel show ''The Edge with Paula Zahn.''
''All this stuff about George's `totally irresponsible' past ... Barbara and I never saw this,'' Bush said of his son. ''We knew he had some problems but - that he faced up to - but no different than most kids.''
The younger Bush, the Republican governor of Texas, was ''a rambunctious little guy'' and his father recalled an episode when the youngster tried to hit him. ''I just held him at arm's length - he was about 9 - just flailing away at me. He didn't like some decision I had made - a leadership decision, I'm sure.''
The candidate has acknowledged that at one time he drank heavily and that he made ''mistakes'' in his youth.
When pressed, he has said he has not used illegal drugs in the past 25 years. Bush is 53.
His father said he is upset by how the media have questioned his son about rumors of cocaine use, and believes it is right for him not to answer more questions on the subject.
''I do feel strongly about that, about gotcha politics, about intrusiveness,'' Bush said. ''And I think I'm very proud that he's with that position, and let the voters decide.''
The former president said he has not asked his son whether he ever used drugs. ''I wouldn't even consider to do that.''
Barbara Bush said last month that she and her husband never asked their eldest son if he used cocaine.
The former president said that he has tried to avoid giving political advice to his sons and has shied away from public comments on some topics lest his opinions cause them trouble. Another son, Jeb, is governor of Florida.
He did discuss next year's presidential election in general terms that nevertheless took the current chief executive to task. ''I just hope and believe that the American people are going to want to see standards very high.''
''I just have a great respect for the office itself. And I'm afraid President Clinton hasn't lived up to very high standards in that regard.''
A book of the former president's letters, ''All the Best,'' will be published next month.
