Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jun 2013
Source: Rockford Register Star (IL)
Copyright: 2013 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact: http://www.rrstar.com/contact
Website: http://www.rrstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/370
Author: Kevin Haas

STAYING CLEAN AFTER WINNEBAGO COUNTY DRUG COURT

13.5% of drug court graduates commit another crime within 1 year

ROCKFORD -- Doctors warned Chris Cole that the next time he used
heroin he could die.

It was four years ago, and Cole, then 21, had spent two months in the
hospital with a heart infection brought on by injecting himself with
the drug.

"I didn't even care when I did it (again)," said Cole, now 25. "I
lived to use and hoped I would die."

His life continued to center on the drug, which can annihilate the
respiratory system and cause a slow and irregular heartbeat over time.
Any cash he had, he said, was spent on heroin almost as quickly as he
could earn it. His previous attempts to get clean through treatment
had failed, mostly because of his unwillingness to commit to a
program, he concedes.

"I thought I was going to die a monster and nobody was going to miss
me," Cole said.

Cole eventually did get clean, agonizing through the effects of
withdrawal inside a Winnebago County Jail cell. It was his arrest, and
subsequent sentence to Winnebago County Drug Court, that finally ended
years of abuse.

A week after celebrating his 22nd birthday, Cole was arrested in
Rockton. He said he had been a constant problem for Rockton police.
Their reports show they were familiar with him. An officer recognized
him driving on Blackhawk Boulevard on April 13, 2010. The officer knew
he didn't have a license, court records show. Cole was arrested for
driving on a suspended license. Then police searched him and found a
heroin needle, cooker spoon and heroin residue. He was charged with
felony possession of less than 15 grams.

Cole pleaded guilty in June 2010 to the Class 4 felony and sought Drug
Court as a way to avoid prison. He made dozens of mandatory
appearances in Drug Court, was required to attend treatment and
counseling, and took regular random drug tests.

It's a demanding program for good reason. Many people entered into
Drug Court face the same fatal risk as Cole. Since Jan. 1, four people
enrolled in Drug Court have died from overdoses.

Deadly consequences

A growing number of people are dying from drug overdoses in Winnebago
County. In 2012, 107 died from a drug overdose. That's a nearly 43
percent increase from 2011, according to Winnebago County Coroner Sue
Fiduccia.

Heroin, which Judge Janet Holmgren labeled "the most addictive and
destructive" drug, caused 41 of those deaths. Heroin dependency is the
most common addiction among Drug Court participants. Thirty-nine
percent of the 209 people now enrolled in Drug Court are or were
addicted to heroin. Cocaine was the second most common, the drug of
choice among 26 percent of participants.

"Once people clean up from heroin they cannot go back to the same
level of use, but they do and that's where the overdoses happen," said
Holmgren, presiding judge of the Juvenile and Specialty Courts, which
includes Drug Court. "Plus, the stuff that's coming in is really pure
and really cheap."

In the past four years, 254 of the 504 people who exited Drug Court
did so successfully, according to court data. While a little more than
half complete the program successfully, fewer graduate. Graduation
requires more of the participants. Graduates must be drug- and
arrest-free for one year. They also must have a job or be on the path
to getting one.

"Substance use rewires your brain." Holmgren said. "These are pretty
good numbers when you consider there are actual organic impacts,
changes from years of substance abuse. It's hard to rewire that."

It's been more than 2 1/2 years since Cole last touched alcohol, he
said. He hasn't used heroin since his arrest. He stayed clean and
graduated from Drug Court on May 16, 2012. He was one of 17 in the
graduating class and one of 527 who have graduated since the program
began in 1996. He also landed a new job and reunited with his
6-year-old daughter. He finally got to spend time with his 3-year-old
daughter, whom he never had met while he was using. Those who work
inside Winnebago County Drug Court say Cole is a success story - proof
of how the program works if the person is committed to recovery.

"I was pretty much a failure at everything in my life. There was never
something that I could be proud of, up until now," Cole said. "Not
only did Drug Court start the process of saving my life, but it
started the process of giving me a life."

He shared his story with the Register Star in the hope that other
addicts might get this message: "There's a new way of life out there."

Inside court

Drug Court is different from a typical court call, where prosecutors
and defense counsel battle toward an eventual verdict. Here, the
accused have admitted their problem and court appearances are intended
to monitor their progress as they fight addiction. It's a more
cooperative, less adversarial process. Prosecutor and public defender
are often seated together as participants are called before Holmgren
to review their drug tests and participation in treatment programs.

It's also a unique experience because Holmgren allows applause. She
may even join in, as was the case May 28 when one participant was
commended for a year of sobriety.

Those who miss a drug test are sent to jail for 24 hours. There are
other sanctions for failed tests and absence from treatment programs.

The program's goal is to keep addicts from repeat trips to
prison.

"We've loaded our prisons with nonviolent persons because of the drug
proliferation and the things that flow from it, the property crimes,"
Holmgren said. "If it's being driven by some kind of behavioral health
issue, let's deal with it."

It cost roughly $550,000 last year to run Drug Court. About $250,000
of that came from federal and state grants. Every $1 spent on drug
courts yields $2 in savings by keeping people out of prison or being
arrested on other charges, according to the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

Nationally, 84 percent of drug court graduates record no arrests
within a year of graduation, and 72.5 percent record no arrests at the
two-year mark, according to a study funded by the Department of
Justice. The recidivism rate is comparable in Winnebago County, where
13.5 percent of graduates are arrested within a year of completing the
program. Thirty-three percent of those arrested after completing Drug
Court are charged with a drug-related crime.

Cole said the difference between him and those who relapse is that he
was desperate to quit using. He was looking for a way out and found it
in Drug Court.

"The statistics are against us as addicts," he said. "We come from a
place that not many people know or understand - the pain and the
darkness that is there - but even fewer of us come back from it."
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MAP posted-by: Matt