FREED FROM THE FIRE

Mark, 34, and Carol, 32, who were using drugs together are now getting
clean together in the drug court program.

Mark's story begins back when he was in elementary school. He says he
started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana to help him deal with
problems including being a victim of abuse.

"It was a gateway to an escape," he explains.

As Mark entered high school, he started drinking a lot more and got into
trouble with the law for committing hate crimes.

After graduating high school, Mark entered the military, where he continued
using marijuana and was introduced to methamphetamine.

The military never caught him using drugs and Mark says he was lucky enough
to secure an honorable discharge from the service.

Mark came up with what, at the time, he thought was a great idea: selling
drugs.

"I thought selling dope would make more money," Mark says now.

He remembers he thought he was hip, slick and cool. But as time passed,
Mark began using more drugs than what he was selling.

The cops raided his house numerous times, but they were never able to take
Mark to jail for anything worse than being under the influence of drugs or
similar charges.

"I knew how to hide my stuff, what to do and not to do," says Mark.

When the police were unable to arrest him for any serious charges, it built
up his ego, and he recalls thinking, "They can't catch me."

Over the years Mark was in and out of jail, usually for under-the-influence
charges. He even tried to enter the Proposition 36 program for drug users,
but that didn't stop him from using.

He liked the life he was living.

Then about a year and a half ago, Mark was arrested for under the
influence, possession of drugs and a few other charges. He was ready to
sign anything just to get out of jail.

Mark signed himself into the drug court program, and now couldn't be
happier that he did.

When he first entered the program, it was a bumpy road.

He used drugs a few times and ended up back in jail.

There was one incident that made him realize things were changing.

After hurricane season hit last year, Mark went to his mother's house in
Florida against his program terms (which restricted him from leaving the
state) to repair her damaged roof.

Mark realized if he had been using drugs, he probably wouldn't have cared
about his mom's home.

After repairing the roof, Mark returned to California and turned himself in.

Mark now has been clean of drugs and alcohol for over 10 months.

He looks back at the life he led while he was using drugs and realizes he
wasn't really living his life.

"I wasn't living. I brought shame to my family," says Mark.

He now admits while he was selling drugs, he was endangering the welfare of
his five children, who lived with him.

"My life became a downward spiral," he recalls.

"Drug court showed me a better way of life."

Some people in the program aren't sure if they were arrested or rescued,
says Mark.

"I was rescued," he adds. "I am actually being a parent today."

When he was on drugs, he remembers, he wouldn't call his children on
holidays or their birthdays. Now he gets to kiss his kids goodnight every day.

He realizes his abuse didn't just affect him, it affected everyone around him.

"I don't believe anybody that is using drugs is being the best parent he
can be," Mark says.

He has learned people can think, like he did, that they can beat the system
- - but really you are not beating the system, he warns. You are beating
yourself up.

Now, Mark considers himself to be a productive member of society. He
recently started a new business.

Mark agrees with other clients and program administrators that drug court
does work.

His message to drug users in the Morongo Basin: Remember, you are not
worthless. There is hope for you; just be open minded.

The drug use started for 32-year-old Carol about 16 years ago when she
thought marijuana was something everybody did because her parents smoked it.

Carol started smoking marijuana in the eighth grade.

"It was normal," she explains today.

Once she entered high school, things changed and Carol started drinking
alcohol and using methamphetamine.

She thinks she was using to fit in and to try to fill the feeling inside
her that something was missing.

Now that she is in recovery, she feels that empty spot she was trying to
fill was from her broken family.

After taking some time away from California in 1999 and heading to
Kentucky, she came back and shortly started selling drugs.

"I totally dismissed pot, then I went on a trip with the meth monster,"
Carol remembers.

She decided to start selling drugs so she could make money.

"I can not only have it, but can make money as well," Carol thought.

But the fact was, she got in so deep she only was making enough money to
get more drugs.

Carol said she would lose job after job and put the blame on her employers.

"While I was using, everybody in the world was wrong but me," Carol says.

Then the worst thing possible happened: She became unable to care for her
children, and they were taken by Child Protective Services.

Carol remembers she had been using methamphetamine for seven days straight
and hadn't slept.

At the end of the seven-day run, Carol hit the bed and went into a deep
sleep. Her children were able to unlock the front door of the house and run
outside.

Carol woke up to a sheriff's deputy standing over her.

It took Carol over a year to get her kids back; she realized she had a
problem, but she just couldn't stop.

Carol recalls she said some pretty foul things about drug court before she
entered the program.

Her partner, Mark, entered the program months before Carol did.

She remembers telling Mark, "They are brainwashing you," when he would come
home and tell her about the program.

Carol says her higher power showed her drug court was a good thing.

One day Carol prayed for help and later that day, the sheriff's department
was knocking on her door.

They came to the house to do a probation sweep for Mark (a sweep is part of
the drug court program rules - a client must allow the sheriff's department
to search his residence for drugs at any time).

Carol had just sold some drugs and had more on her.

The officers gave her a choice: She could give give them any drugs she had
on her or, if they searched her and found drugs, they would take both her
and Mark to jail and her children would be taken back into custody by CPS.

When the sheriff's department said they would take her kids, she basically
surrendered to them and handed over the drugs.

Carol took a trip to jail and was offered entrance into the drug court program.

She decided to enter the program about eight months ago and has been clean
ever since.

"The program cared about my family more than I did," Carol recalls.

Since Carol has been in drug court, she says she walks around with a smile
on her face and participates in her life.

"I used to be scared of the cops and try to dodge them. Now when I see them
I wave to them," Carol laughs.

She feared that her drug use had damaged her children - but actually, her
children have helped her with her recovery.

"They are the most understanding. They help me out so much," she says.

Drug court taught Carol that if you fall down, you can dust yourself off
and pick yourself up. Don't just lie there.

She says program has helped her see who she is and taught her to take one
day at a time.

Carol offers this advice to any kids thinking of experimenting with drugs:
"You won't find your answer in a bag or a bottle."

Turn to God if you can't turn to anybody else, she adds.

Carol is now enrolled in classes at the community college and helps Mark
run his new business.

"I was really rescued in this program. That is the bottom line."