GRADUATE SAYS PROGRAM HAS SAVED HIS LIFE

Dan Helfert graduated on Friday from the county's drug court, a pre-plea,
high-intensity supervision program. Dan Helfert tried his first puff on a
joint when he was 13.

By his early 20s he was using methamphetamine.

A union carpenter, Helfert says he lost good paying jobs, relationships and
his sense of purpose to his addiction.

Then he was arrested, and Helfert, 32, of Fenton, says that is the best
thing that ever happened to him. He was charged with possession of
methamphetamine.

Prosecutors gave Helfert a choice. He could plead guilty to a possession
charge, get a record and face potential prison time or probation, or he
could go to the county's drug court, a pre-plea, high-intensity supervision
program that, if he were successful, would make the charge go away. Helfert
graduated from the program on Friday. The drug court team, made up of
counselors, probation officials, defense lawyers, prosecutors, police
officers and Judge Timothy J. Patterson, who has presided over the program,
gave Helfert a standing ovation.

"You no longer have criminal charges against you," Patterson said.
"Congratulations."

It wasn't easy. Helfert bears the dubious distinction of having been
involved in the program for the longest period of time, 20 months, since the
county started a pilot version of the drug court last year. The average
person graduates from the program in 12 months.

Helfert was ordered to serve shock time in the Jefferson County Jail on six
occasions because he had failed drug tests.

When he was young, Helfert used drugs to fit in. As time went on, getting
high became a goal in itself.

Even after he was arrested, Helfert says, he came to court on drugs and
figured he could bluff his way through it.

"As an addict, you learn how to make excuses," Helfert said. "You can
justify and rationalize everything."

Helfert said he probably would not have quit, had he not been arrested.

"I wound up here because I got caught," Helfert said.

Helfert said he decided to go public with his story because he believed the
drug court program had saved his life.

On Friday, his mother and 12-year-old son came to court to watch him
graduate.

"I'd like to see this program get more funding," Helfert said. "This is one
of the happiest days of my life. It's also one of the scariest days of my
life because I no longer have to take a drug test every week."

As a hedge against that uneasy future, Helfert carries six mugshots of
himself in his wallet to remind him of where he's been.

The concept of an alternative drug court was introduced in Missouri with a
program in Kansas City in 1993.

The programs use a combination of treatment, supervision, praise and
counseling to help offenders turn their lives around.

Jefferson County started its drug court with a pilot program in January
2002.

The Legislature approved funding for a full-time drug court commissioner in
the county last May.

The county hired Patricia Riehl, 45, a former municipal judge in De Soto and
Crystal City, to fill the post.

Riehl took over the leadership roll from Patterson after Friday's court
session.