TWELVE GRADUATE FROM JACKSON COUNTY DRUG COURT

PASCAGOULA -- It could have ended much worse for the 12 graduates of
drug court Thursday night.

Instead of having their names read as graduating from the program,
the 12 could be spending long stretches in prison, or they could be
dead.

"It saved my life," graduate David Lyda said. "Drugs made me lose
everything I ever had -- my relationships, my possessions,
everything."

Lyda said he was arrested twice for manufacturing methamphetamine,
which got him into the drug court.

At the time of his arrest, Lyda said he wanted to be free of drugs,
"but I did not see it happening. I was looking for a way to get out.
Getting caught was the best thing that happened to me. I wouldn't be
free from drugs if I hadn't been caught."

Lyda said the program gave him the discipline and structure he needed
to break loose from his addiction.

And, that is the purpose of drug court District Attorney Tony
Lawrence said. "This program takes people who are addicts and helps
them overcome their problems," he said.

Lawrence said the program is for people whose drug use has caused
them to commit some type of non-violent crime, such as theft or drug
possession. He said the program allows them to turn their lives
around without having to go to prison.

"It is an alternative to prison," Lawrence said. And, he said more
than 95 percent of drug court graduates remaining free from trouble.

"It is one of the best programs I've seen in dealing with drug
addicts," Circuit Court Judge Dale Harkey said.

Harkey said the alternative is warehousing drug addicts in prison.
Drug court, he said, identifies those who could turn their lives
around and gives them a second chance.

Circuit Court Judge Kathy King Jackson originally started drug court
five years ago in George County. Two years later, she brought the
concept to Jackson County. Soon Harkey and Circuit Court Judge Robert
Krebs had their own drug court programs.

According to a press release put out by the 19th Judicial Circuit,
which includes Jackson, George and Greene counties, the district has
204 participants in drug court, which makes it the largest program in
the state.