A SECOND CHANCE

District Judge Pete Johnson swings down his wooden gavel. The brown pill
bottle before him is crushed. The 27-year-old man struggling with an
illicit drug addiction pockets the smashed fragments.

"Keep it as a souvenir," Johnson tells the man. "You go back to your doctor
and get something prescribed that's non-narcotic."

The man nods and leaves the courtroom with his lawyer. Moments earlier, the
man had explained his drug test was positive for opiates because he took
the narcotic for migraines. He told Johnson he'd quit taking the pills so
he could continue with recovery.

Welcome to Jefferson County Judge Johnson's drug court, where nonviolent
offenders plead guilty to their drug charges, vow to stay clean, and hope
their convictions are dismissed upon completing the program.

For many, it takes a year or two and more than a promise to graduate.
Defendants must pay $1,500 to help cover program costs. They must make
routine court appearances, undergo frequent drug testing and perform 100
hours of community service.

Recovery wasn't easy for December drug court graduate Bobbie McCaskey, who
went to jail two or three times when her tests revealed cocaine. She
entered drug court in March 2000 after police arrested her. Surgery this
summer on her heart, and jail, helped her decide to quit a habit she had
for nearly a decade.