Pubdate: Wed, 02 Jan 2002
Source: Birmingham News (AL)
Copyright: 2002 The Birmingham News
Contact:  http://www.al.com/bhamnews/bham.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45
Author: Chanda Temple, News staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

A SECOND CHANCE

District Judge Pete Johnson swings down his wooden gavel. The brown pill 
bottle before him is crushed. The 27-year-old man struggling with an 
illicit drug addiction pockets the smashed fragments.

"Keep it as a souvenir," Johnson tells the man. "You go back to your doctor 
and get something prescribed that's non-narcotic."

The man nods and leaves the courtroom with his lawyer. Moments earlier, the 
man had explained his drug test was positive for opiates because he took 
the narcotic for migraines. He told Johnson he'd quit taking the pills so 
he could continue with recovery.

Welcome to Jefferson County Judge Johnson's drug court, where nonviolent 
offenders plead guilty to their drug charges, vow to stay clean, and hope 
their convictions are dismissed upon completing the program.

For many, it takes a year or two and more than a promise to graduate. 
Defendants must pay $1,500 to help cover program costs. They must make 
routine court appearances, undergo frequent drug testing and perform 100 
hours of community service.

Recovery wasn't easy for December drug court graduate Bobbie McCaskey, who 
went to jail two or three times when her tests revealed cocaine. She 
entered drug court in March 2000 after police arrested her. Surgery this 
summer on her heart, and jail, helped her decide to quit a habit she had 
for nearly a decade.
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