PITT DRUG COURT PROGRAM SEES FIRST GRADUATES

The poem has been a permanent fixture on his desk since his law school
days 25 years ago in New Orleans.

Friday, District Court Judge Joe Blick clutched a framed version of
the John Henry Newman verse that has lifted his spirits during hard
times, his voice trembling as he read each line to Emmett Lang, a
former crack cocaine addict and the first graduate of the Pitt County
Drug Treatment Court.

As the inspirational words filtered through his ears, Lang's feet were
planted in the spot where he'd poured his heart out to Blick and the
other members of the drug court team more than 20 times.

"I am a link in a chain, a bond between people," Blick read. "He (God)
has not created me for nothing."

Then Blick, tears swelling in his eyes, stepped from the bench and
embraced Lang, handing the graduate his own version of the poem as an
audience of more than 35 stood clapping.

Lang, 33, was one of the first to seek help in kicking a nine-year
addiction accompanied by crime when the drug court program began in
early September 2005.

During the year, he submitted to strict curfews, regular counseling
meetings, random drug tests and biweekly court sessions that made the
program more challenging than regular probation, he said.

On the program's first anniversary Friday, 13 male and four female
offenders were enrolled in the program, said drug court coordinator
Carl Cogdell. They suffered from addictionstoalcohol, cocaine,
marijuana andheroin, he said.

Convictions such as driving while impaired, driving while license
revoked, larceny and drug possession are just a few examples of the
crimes marking their records.

The hope is that $57,180 in grant funding secured from the N.C.
Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, and a local match by
Pitt County commissioners, will help these and others like Lang kick
their habits and turn from crime in the program's second year.

Court Sessions

"Give it up!"

The judge's battle cry is heard during each biweekly Friday district
court session that the 17 nonviolent offenders attend.

It's an utterance followed by clapping all around - whether attendees
have been on their best behavior, or undeniably have not.

In this court, honesty and a good attitude are the rules to live by
for these offenders, who are typically referred to the program by a
law enforcement officer or court official.

One by one, participants take their places before Blick, clasp hands
and account for their activity in the last two weeks. If they don't
tell it all, someone else will do it for them.

Probation officer Bill Woolard; Dawn Ellis, lead manager with
Treatment and Accountability for Safer Communities; and Cogdell will
offer up missed meetings, broken curfews, failed drug tests and poor
attitudes.

Stepping before Blick and an audience of other offenders and their
families, 30-year-old Billy Warren was not the first to be given up by
court officials Friday after his drug screen tested positive for cocaine.

Hanging his head, Warren told Blick that he had not provided the
information to Woolard because he thought he had not consumed enough
cocaine to show up on the test.

Sitting handcuffed preparing to serve a 72-hour jail sentence, Warren
said the temptation when people around him are using drugs is what
breaks him down. It's happened at least twice since he was admitted in
February.

"I am going to put it behind me," Warren said, vowing he was going to
be a success story.

The bumps are expected. Offenders that are part of this program have a
long history of addiction, assistant district attorney Darth Akins
said.

Each has to learn to get away from temptation and accept recovery
before the positive drug screens are a thing of the past, Akins said.
That takes time, he said.

Consequences and Treatment

Outside of court, each participant must not
only get a job, but attend group meetings, visit a probation officer,
submit to random drug tests and attend the biweekly court sessions.

The frequency of visits to mental health professionals depends on what
stage of the three-phase program a person is in.

Friday, 58 percent were in the beginning stage, 11 percent were in
phase two and 29 percent were in the final phase.

Warren was among those in phase two. He was one of several scheduled
to spend a weekend in jail for failing a drug screen Friday.

It's bumps like these that can extend a stay in a particular phase and
the program in general, Ellis said.

For Warren, time should be finished in the four-month phase two.
However, the positive screen will keep him in the stage another 120
days, provided he follows all the rules and there are no more positive
tests.

Ellis said finishing the program takes at least a year, and that does
not account for mistakes made along the way.

"It's more likely individuals will spend two or three years completing
requirements to graduate," Ellis said.

Frequent mishaps are addressed with more intense treatment, in-patient
versus out-patient counseling, Ellis said. Electronic monitoring also
is used.

Woolardsaid curfews can be adjusted, and home visits to complete drug
tests can be implemented.

By the same token, rewards, including more lenient curfews and gift
certificates, are provided for those working hard to overcome their
hurdles.

Area businesses donate restaurant vouchers and movie
passes.

Lang's Story

For years, Lang struggled with an addiction that kept him
in trouble with the law, distanced from his family and living on the
street.

A talk with his attorney, Frank Harper, prior to a pending case set
the wheels in motion for a change in Lang's life.

"He expressed a desire to set things straight," Harper said. It was an
admission Harper said he took to be genuine.

With drug court still a few months from its start, Harper spoke to
Akins about admitting Lang into the program. A later meeting with
members of the team had many struggling with the idea of admitting
Lang.

His past was a little more colorful than the team might have hoped,
Akins said. But each eventually brushed their doubts aside and
admitted him as the first male into the program on Sept. 9, 2005.

Lang excelled, never missing a court session or turning up a positive
drug test.

As drug court officials talked during Lang's last appearance Friday,
they shared their personal stories of meeting Lang or reflected on his
progress.

For Cogdell, one of the most telling signs of success came in the form
of a picture taken when Lang was admitted to the program, one he found
tucked in a folder earlier this week.

"I couldn't recognize him in the picture," Cogdell said staring at a
well-dressed, neatly groomed Lang standing before the court. "He
looked like someone down and out then."

Indeed, Lang's life is much different. The father of a 12-year-old
daughter, sobriety has helped him become a part of her life.

He lives with his parents, helping them with their janitorial business
and working a second job in the technology field.

Lang said life has never been better, and he wished the same success
for his fellow drug court participants.

"Give yourself an opportunity to take advantage of this program," Lang
said, facing his peers teary-eyed Friday. "You must reach a point
where you are serious ... and know you will not be alone. All these
people were here to help undo something I'd done to myself. "

[Sidebar]

BY THE NUMBERS

The following information is measured during a year period from the start of
Pitt County Drug Treatment Court in September 2005 to Friday:

.Participants have submitted to 765 drug screens - 80 percent were
recorded negative. Of the positive screens, 50 percent showed traces
of cocaine or opiates.

.As of Friday, 17 people were participating in the program. Of these,
47 percent are age 41 or above, 76 percent are male and 65 percent are
Caucasian.

.In the three-phase program, 58 percent are in the beginning stage, 11
percent are in phase two and 29 percent are in the final phase.

.In total, participants served 1,212 days in the Pitt County Detention
Center, costing $62,902, prior to the implementation of the program.
Since the program started, the same group served 171 days at a cost of
$8,874 - a difference of $54,028.

.Since the program started, 19 people have been terminated from the
program.