Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2012 Source: Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA) Copyright: 2012 The Standard-Speaker Contact: http://www.standardspeaker.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1085 TREATMENT COURT GIVES EX-ADDICT A NEW LEASE ON LIFE In September 2007, he stood inside Rainbow Jewelers in Kingston, intent on taking what he wanted. Then 34 years old and "high out of his mind," he swiped six rings from the sales counter and ran. He wanted to trade the jewelry for heroin. It wasn't the first time Mark W. Donovan had a brush with the law, as he had spent most of his life fueling his drug and alcohol addiction. Donovan said it wasn't until two to three days later in jail that he realized he did something serious. "I was probably one of the worst people in the valley. I definitely led a crooked life," Donovan said from his Hanover Township home. Crime found its way to Donovan like it has to many others - through drugs. His world revolved around drugs, and he would do whatever it took to get them. Time and time again, he was brought before a judge to face criminal offenses. He said he felt like the world was out to get him. But for Donovan, a chance at salvation came while sitting in a prison cell. Out of control At 12 or 13, Donovan began smoking marijuana and drinking. He hung out with older kids who did the same. Tragedies in his life steered him deeper into illegal drugs because they numbed his pain. He was charged with several driving under the influence violations. Other drug addictions, like cocaine and prescription pills, found their way to Donovan. He was spiraling out of control, spending $50 to $60 a day on drugs. In prison, a fellow inmate introduced him to a newer, cheaper high - heroin. The heist at Rainbow Jewelers had him sitting in prison for a year before he was invited to apply for entry to Luzerne County Treatment Court, a unique branch of the county court system that offers individualized care to treat addiction. Clients meet with a judge weekly and are required to attend treatment and counseling, obtain a full-time job or enroll in school, and find a home of their own. At first, Donovan's "manipulative mind" had no intention of stopping drugs, he said. He thought treatment court would simply get him out of jail and soon enough he'd be using again. But that was all to change the next - and last - time he found himself in trouble. A new life Donovan remembers clearly the day he began listening to his probation officer and to the counselor provided by treatment court. It was not long after his admission to the program that he lapsed - he got high one day and a drug test proved it. He said he was sitting in the court office and thought he was getting kicked out of the program and going back to jail. Donovan went to jail, but he stayed in the program. His counselor told him they understood he was an addict but wanted to help him change. "And I realized they are trying to help me," he said. But not only did others want to help him; Donovan said he was ready to help himself and change. "All it took was someone to show me that another life was possible. It's hard to explain but it also took the need for me to want to be clean. If I didn't have that will, I would still be using," he said. Treatment court, he said, gave him guidance on how his life should be. It also gave him faith in a justice system that he felt "cut (him) down" so many times in the past, and belief in the idea that he could get sober. Judges in treatment court praised him when he stayed clean. "I heard that he's proud of me" for staying with the program, Donovan said. So he made changes that included cutting people out of his life. Some of them were family members. He said some of those people give him strange looks when he tells them there is more to life, or "you're missing out on today." "They think I'm crazy, but it's the truth," he said. Donovan graduated from treatment court in two years, a clean and sober man. Today his family is strong and he has worked past emotional problems and the life he led. Donovan said he is grateful for his wife and their 2-year-old son, his home and the life he chose to change. "We may not be millionaires, but there's no drug or alcohol use in my house. I know I can get through anything today," he said. "I don't want to give up," he said. "I don't need to put anything in my body. I'm doing it, and I really like where I'm at." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt