DRUG COURT HELPS FORMER USERS TURN LIVES AROUND

A Kaua'i Drug Court graduation ceremony held Friday afternoon at the
5th Circuit Courthouse marked the culmination of a long journey for 11
drug offenders who have been given a second chance.

At the conclusion of a hearing that featured congratulatory remarks
from Family Court Judge Calvin Murashige, state Sen. Gary Hooser and
state Rep. Hermina Morita, the graduates had their charges formally
dismissed.

Hooser spoke about his experiences growing up with three brothers with
drug and alcohol problems, and encouraged the graduates to work hard
in the face of adversity and never give up.

Morita thanked the graduates for becoming productive members of
society who would be paying taxes instead of being sources of
government spending, which is especially important in the current
downturned economy, she joked.

The event was also attended by Rep. Roland Sagum, interim Mayor Bill
"Kaipo" Asing, Police Chief Darryl Perry, 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen
Watanabe, Drug Court Coordinator Alton Amimoto, council members Mel
Rapozo, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho and Tim Bynum, and dozens of proud
family and friends of the graduates.

The graduating class was the largest in the history of the program,
which started in August 2003 as an alternative to incarceration for
nonviolent substance abusers. The grads were lauded for their
commitment to fixing their mistakes and turning their lives around.

Probation officers ToriAnn Laranio, Jennifer Tone and Jack Viohl went
through the case histories for the 11 graduates, starting with their
arrests for a variety of drug offenses and ending with their
impressive stretches of clean, sober living - longer than a year in
many cases.

"Drug addicts don't belong in prison," Viohl said, explaining that the
Kaua'i Drug Court program instead requires regular appearances in
court, random urinalysis tests and drug counseling that intends to
treat the disease of drug addiction instead of punishing offenders.

The graduates - Cory Sarmiento, Cheryl Lemalu, Sonny Suniga, Russell
Soares, Matthew Finer, Shirlene Kali, Travis Taketa, Garrett Alisna,
David Kaaumoana, Alan Bertolino and Fredie Ramos, according to court
records - then had the opportunity to share their success stories and
thank those that had supported them during their tough times.