INMATES FIND HELP, HOPE IN PRISON'S DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROGRAM

The Post-Gazette recently visited the drug and alcohol program at
(http://www.cor.state.pa.us/chester/site/default.asp)State Correctional
Institution Chester and interviewed some of the inmates. Under current
Department of Corrections policy, journalists allowed into state prisons
must agree not to use inmates' last names or photograph their faces, a
policy they say is in deference to victims and their families.

SCI Chester, a medium-security prison, is a two-story, red cinder block
building located in an industrial neighborhood southwest of Philadelphia, a
few hundred yards from the Delaware River. The prison, which also prohibits
tobacco products, opened in 1998 specifically to administer drug and
alcohol treatment to inmates who are about to be released.

More than 80 percent of the inmates at SCI Chester have been serving
sentences of two to 10 years, living in 88-square-foot cells with one other
man. With few exceptions, they must be within 15 months of their minimum
release date to get in.

More than half the inmates at SCI Chester are African American, more than
half are from Philadelphia and more than half are between 25 and 40.
Spokeswoman Louisa Perez says they've had Wall Street traders as well as
street dealers come through the program.

Aside from the drug and alcohol programs, SCI Chester has at least two
other noteworthy characteristics: The facility has fewer than four assaults
reported each year, and no one has ever tried to escape.

The reason is simple -- men come to SCI Chester expecting it will be their
last stop before freedom.

"Seventy-five percent of the people here are very serious about their
recovery and very serious about going home," said Corey, a 34-year-old
Reading native, who was a chef at some of the finer Walnut Street
restaurants in Philadelphia for eight years.

While working 70 to 80 hours a week, Corey began using crystal
methamphetamine for its rush of energy.

"It started out as some kind of way to get through the day," he recalled.
"Eventually my habit grew so fast I started selling to support my habit."

He was convicted a year ago for possession with intent to deliver after
selling to an undercover narcotics officer. He's been sentenced to three to
six years of imprisonment.

"I was in such denial. I thought, if I can support myself, how could I
possibly have a drug problem?" he said.

With his background and training, Corey is confident he can resume his life
as a professional chef once he's released. He's sure about something else, too:

"I'm never going to use again."

Michael, 33, of State College, is serving four to eight years for heroin
possession with intent to deliver, and says he similarly fooled himself
into believing he didn't have a problem.

"When I first tried using, it was a weekend thing," said the former Penn
State University student. He said the addiction set in after three months,
even though "the friend who gave it to me said that if I never take it two
days in a row I would never become dependent."

"You get this Superman image and you think, 'It can't happen to me,' " he said.

During the 12 years he used heroin, Michael voluntarily went through six
rehabilitations and two halfway houses before he got arrested. The first
rehab, in 1993, lasted 28 days. By his final rehab, the allowed stay, had
been reduced to 14 days.

He viewed the rehabs as a periodic "tune-up" rather than an opportunity to
straighten out his life.

"I really didn't want to stop using. I wanted all the craziness to stop,
but I didn't want to stop using," Michael said.

He's doubtful that rehab could have helped much anyway.

"After 14 days, you're just basically coming off the drug. The first three
to five days are the worst. But the [mental] fog is really lifting for
months. It's just not enough time."

After nearly two years in prison, including the past four months at SCI
Chester, "I can think clearly. I haven't had any craziness in a long time,"
Michael said. "We're dealing with it on a daily basis, through NA and AA
meetings."

The SCI Chester program, he added, "really saved my life."

Ron, 43, also from the State College area, has been in SCI Chester since
September after serving shorter stints at SCI Mahanoy and SCI Camp Hill. He
has been jailed since April 2003 for forgery and writing bad checks, both
of which stemmed from his longtime abuse of prescription pain pills.

He was caught in South Carolina during a routine police checkpoint, then
spent his 42nd birthday in a county jail cell with 11 other men, sitting on
a metal toilet and vomiting into a sink for three days as he detoxed.

"I'd gotten into the whole thing of, 'Let's take a couple of Tylenol-3s and
go fishing,' " Ron said. That eventually progressed to the point that he'd
drive four to five hours to Philadelphia or New York to buy pills that
would give him two hours' relief.

"It was apparent to everyone else what I was doing, but I was in denial,"
he said. "I was out of control for two years before I got picked up for this."

While at SCI Chester, Ron has put together a booklet for fellow inmates
titled "Plan for Your Release Now," which lists the paperwork and documents
they should have ready when they leave prison.

"You have to give them the opportunity to succeed when they leave -- give
the man some direction, so when he leaves he's got that pride," he said.