DRUG COURT PROGRAM SUFFERS ITS FIRST DEATH

While Saddened, Official Said Death Is Possibility With Heroin Addicts

PORTAGE -- Officials with the county's new drug court said they were
saddened by news that one of their clients was found dead this week
of a possible drug overdose.

The death of 25-year-old Jared Back is the first casualty for the
nearly nine-month-old program, but is unfortunately the norm for drug
courts and heroin addicts in general, Porter County Deputy Prosecutor
Adam Burroughs said. The county program has had the unusual
experience up until now of not having so much as a positive drug test
among participants, he said.

"Most heroin addicts never recover from their addiction," Burroughs said.

Back is believed to have died Sunday night, but his body was found
Monday afternoon on a bed in a Portage home, surrounded by a syringe
and other drug paraphernalia, according to the Porter County coroner's office.

The office is awaiting the results of toxicology reports to confirm
the cause of death.

Drug court case manager Barb Claypool said she was worried about Back
from the start because he had not been through any treatment and was
not taking the effort seriously.

After pleading guilty in July to possessing heroin, Back appeared
just once in drug court before he started an in-patient treatment
program at New Directions in Lafayette, Burroughs said.

While he was doing well at first, Back raised some suspicions and was
drug-tested, Claypool said. He then disappeared and stayed out of
sight until his body was discovered this past week.

Back's death has been tough on Porter Superior Judge Julia Jent, who
as the leader of drug court, issued an arrest warrant hoping to catch
the young man before he hurt himself.

"The minute they run, we know they're at high risk," Jent said.

She and Claypool attended Back's funeral week this week.

"It was so sad to see him in that casket -- so young," Claypool said.

While the death has shaken drug court officials, Claypool said it
would have been even tougher if they'd had the opportunity to spend
more time with Back.

"I don't know what I would do if it were one of those I work with,"
she said. "You're so much a part of their lives."

Jent plans to discuss the death and conduct what she called "a
reality check" with the remaining drug court clients during Monday's session.