DRUG COURT'S GRADUATES VOUCH FOR ITS BENEFITS

The biggest beneficiaries of Lane County Drug Court's fund-raising efforts?
That would be the former drug addicts who complete the court's demanding
program.

More than 400 have done so in the last six years, including nine graduates
who showed up in Lane Circuit Judge Darryl Larson's courtroom this week to
receive hugs and handshakes along with their diplomas.

Several graduates fought back tears as they praised the program - and said
they shudder to think where they might be if Drug Court didn't exist.

"I don't even know if I'd be alive today," said Christel Roberts of Eugene.
"It's changed my whole life. I'm in school, studying nursing, and you can't
do that with a felony on your record.

"I was in the program 2 1/2 years, but Judge Larson never gave up on me,"
she said.

Stephen Pyle of Eugene said he has five felonies on his record - one for
delivery of heroin and four for possession - and knows exactly where he'd
be if not for Drug Court. "I'd be doing 18 months," he said.

Skyla Schaefer of Eugene, another graduate, painted a similar scene: "I'd
still be stuck in the rut I was in. I'd still be breaking the law and doing
crimes."