EX-DRUG USERS STITCH

As An Alternative To Jail, Drug Court Lets Offenders Sew For The Needy As A
Community Service

You may have heard of the People's Court, but Drug Court was in session
Saturday.

In Judge Tracy McCooey's assembly room, Anthony Oliver, 35, and three other
people indicted on drug-related charges and struggling with addictions
listened steadily to instructions on techniques like backstitching from
Mary Hill, state coordinator of the national ABC Quilts Project.

At the same table where the four worked sat McCooey -- not in a long black
robe but rather a T-shirt and shorts -- lending guidance to the quilt makers.

"I wanted them to do some kind of community service that would mean
something to them as far as their drug problem," said McCooey, who founded
the program that provides quilts for children with fetal alcohol syndrome,
babies who are deformed due to one or both of the parents using harmful
drugs, and infants born infected with HIV.

"It makes them think about hopefully what they're doing," said McCooey, who
said the quilt project will take place for two hours every weekend for five
weeks.

On Saturday, the quilt makers consisted of two women battling crystal
methamphetamine addiction, Oliver and a woman both being treated for
cocaine addiction.

Oliver is getting his life back on track following an indictment on a
fraudulent use of a credit card charge.

He qualified for the program because his crime was motivated by powder
cocaine addiction.

While quilt-making might not have been the group's cup of tea, for each
person, Drug Court, which lasts one year, is an opportunity for a new start.

Drug Court is for offenders who are indicted for drug possession or who
committed a crime motivated by drug use.

Drug Court requires those who qualify -- nonviolent offenders with
substance addictions -- to earn a general equivalency degree or receive
vocational training if the person doesn't have a high school diploma, and
participants also must maintain full-time employment.

The offenders also must perform 50 hours of community service.

If someone slips up in Drug Court, missing meetings or mandatory drug
testing, that person can be cut from the program and face trial on his charge.

Oliver isn't planning on letting that happen to him, though. He said he
already had a diploma from Carver High School and is about to start a
truck-driving job.

Oliver is thankful but said he is still challenged frequently by the
temptation to return to cocaine use.

"You gotta have a lot of determination. A lot of it comes from inside," he
said.