DRUG COURT RENEWS WOMAN'S HOPE

Program Rescued Her From Crack Cocaine Habit

Several jail sentences did nothing to help Mechele Turner break her
addiction to crack cocaine.

But Turner now credits an intensive drug diversion program for
returning to her control over her life.

The 41-year-old mother of two graduated from a Jefferson County Drug
Court with nine others Tuesday.

"I made the decision to change my life. Drug Court shows people that
decision is there for them to make," Turner said. "You can lock people
up, but you're not attacking the disease."

The Jefferson County program places nonviolent drug offenders under
strict supervision and enrolls them in an intense program to break
their habit.

Participants are required to meet with counselors and support groups
as often as five times a week and be tested for drugs and alcohol as
often as three times a week.

Before they graduate, participants must be clean and sober for six
months and should have a high school diploma or a general equivalency
degree and a full-time job if they are not continuing their education.

More than 500 jurisdictions across the nation, including Daviess
County, have similar programs, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Jefferson County began a drug court in 1994 and has graduated 282 drug
offenders. Only 13 percent have reappeared in court on felony charges
within a year of graduating, said Darryl Turpin, director of Jefferson
County Drug Court.

Turner has had several stints in jail, her first being in 1983 for
dealing in drugs. She returned to jail after violating her curfew.

For the next decade, she stayed out of trouble and was able to obtain
custody of her son and daughter and move to Louisville with her new
boyfriend.

But she returned to jail in 1996 for passing stolen checks -- which
she said came after she began to use drugs again. Her addiction also
destroyed her relationship, she said.

"In less than six months, it tore our life apart," Turner
said.

After being paroled in 1997, Turner spent two years living in jail,
halfway houses, recovery centers and homeless shelters. She entered
drug-counseling programs, but she never made an effort at beating her
addiction, she said.

After an arrest on drug charges in 1999, the detective who arrested
her helped divert her into drug court.

"I believe it was God working through that detective that he saw
desperation in me," Turner said.

Turner recently moved into her own apartment. She has her own car now,
and all her bills are in her name. She has reconciled with her son and
daughter, whom she alienated during her years of drug abuse.