MAN SAYS DRUG-FREE LIFESTYLE HELPS HIM STAY OUT OF PRISON

Melvin Harris doesn't know if mandatory rehab programs will help keep
first-time drug offenders out of jail. He doesn't know if Georgia is
behind in its development of alternative programs to keep people out
of the state corrections system.

But he said he does know why 6.8 percent of Georgians - the highest
percentage in the United States - are either incarcerated, on parole
or on probation.

"The reason Georgia has the highest percentage is because they uphold
the law," he said.

In Miami, where Harris was born and raised, offenders can get caught
with relatively large amounts of drugs but will not see hard time.
That's not the case in Georgia.

"In Florida, they cut you a break," he said.

Harris, 42, got out of prison one year ago. He is on parole until
2006, though he might get off earlier if he keeps clean. Harris must
see his parole officer once a month. He is drug-tested. He must get
permission every time he wants to leave the state. He must register
every time he changes addresses.

If he fails to do any of these things, he knows he could end up back
in prison.

Harris is one of Bibb County's 421 residents on felony parole. He is
one of Bibb County's 5,247 residents under some sort of corrective
supervision from the state - and those figures don't include state
residents on misdemeanor probation or federal parole.

"Most of the people in prison now, it's basically because of drugs or
related crime - stealing, whatever," Harris said.

His legal problems are no different.

When Harris was 15 and living in the Overtown section of Miami, he
started smoking marijuana. Soon, he turned to powder cocaine and
snorting heroin.

"I was skipping school and hanging out with guys twice my age," he
said. By 17, he was arrested for possession and was placed on probation.

By 1990, at 33 years old, Harris moved to Louisville, Ga. He got a job
in a sawmill and thought moving from Florida would help get him on a
different track. But the job, paying barely more than minimum wage,
didn't make him the money he wanted. He started taking bus trips to
Florida to pick up crack cocaine. He sold it in Georgia.

"It was pretty good," Harris said. "Until I got caught."

Harris served 18 months in a Georgia state prison for possession with
intent to distribute cocaine. He refers to the prison sentence as a
"slap on the hand."

For 11 months after his sentence, he was on parole. But, again, he was
arrested for possession with intent to distribute. He served three
more years.

Out on parole, Harris just couldn't seem to stay straight. He was
arrested again and was sentenced to five years.

The first four years, Harris was incarcerated at Dooly State Prison in
Unadilla. To pass the time, he attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
He had been to various rehab programs before. But this time, something
in his brain clicked and he started believing in the program.

His final year was spent at Frank Scott Prison in Milledgeville where
he completed a yearlong drug program. In March, he will have been
clean for six years.

"They told me if I keep going the way I'm going, I could get cut loose
(from parole) in 2003," Harris said.

The strongest stuff Harris touches now is coffee and cigarettes. He
works in Macon at Chris Sheridan Construction Co.

Harris gets to drive to Louisville occasionally to see his two
children but he hasn't seen his father in Miami since 1995.

Once he gets off parole, Harris said he expects to begin leading a
more normal life.

"It'll make me feel better," he said. "More productive. I could leave
town without talking to anybody. Go to Florida, whatever."

Asked if he deserved the life he got, the time he served, the state
supervision, Harris smiled and cocked his head.

"Yes, I did," he said. "I deserved everything I got."