DRUG COURT HELPS OFFENDERS CLEAN UP

Manatee County's Version Of The Program Has Had A Success Rate Of
Nearly 90 Percent

MANATEE - Deborah Platt knew she hit rock bottom days after she bonded
out of the Sarasota County jail.

Locked inside a jail cell again three days after her release in
December 2002 after being caught buying drugs from an undercover
officer, Platt came to realize how her 14-year addiction to crack
cocaine and alcohol had ruined her life, her career and her family.

Now she had a choice - serve jail time for the drug charge or go drug
court to break the addiction.

"If I would have done my time, I would have been back out on the
streets doing whatever it took to get what I wanted," she said. "It
was a revolving door."

Platt's case was assigned to drug court, a special intervention
program that grants extensive supervision and treatment for
drug-addicted offenders.

Participants like Platt undergo long-term counseling and treatment and
make frequent court appearances to make sure they can kick the habit.

Ten months after successfully completing the year-long program, the
37- year-old feels accomplished as she works to rebuild her
once-shattered life.

"I had the willingness to do whatever was suggested to me to complete
the program," she said. "That program had all the resources I needed.
I had no one, and they cared about me, they saw me for who I was."

Drug Court Successes

If the program is successfully completed, a judge may reduce the
charges, set aside a sentence, or lessen penalties, according to
Alfred James, director of Manatee County Drug Court.

"The success rate is determined by rearrest," James said. "Once they
complete the program, we track arrests. If people still continue to
use drugs at some level, they're going to get in more trouble again."

Overall, the Manatee County Drug Court has had an 88 percent success
rate, according to James.

Some do return.

"It depends on the circumstance," James said. "If we can help them get
rid of the addiction, we can lessen the chance of them committing
another crime that can hinder their lives."

Participants can stay with the program for an average of about 15
months. They need to have a job or be enrolled in school to take part
in the treatment, and are subject to routine urine tests to check for
drug use.

The conditions are set to meet the requirements a judge outlines for
each participant, which becomes a case handled by a felony probation
officer.

Carrol Dzina, local circuit administrator for the state Department of
Corrections in Sarasota, explained that participants undergo a
screening process before they can enter the drug court program. Like a
regular court case, a judge then sets the conditions the participant
must meet to successfully complete the program.

"They tell us what to look for," he said. "I think it's a very
effective program."

The steady increase of drug overdose deaths in recent months has led
many families and activists to question the opportunities available to
save an addict from the downspiral of addiction.

Prescription Addiction

Almost half of all people are taking at least one prescription drug,
according to statistics released last week by the National Center of
Health Statistics. Findings show one in six are taking three or more
prescription medications.

James said he has noticed the amount of addicts hooked on prescription
medication rise in recent years, with an increasing number using
opiate-based drugs, including heroin and OxyContin.

Results of another report compiled by the Florida Medical Examiners
Commission and released last week state that there were about 92,000
drug-related deaths throughout Florida from January to June 2004. Of
that number, 3,510 people died with at least one drug in their bodies.

There were a total of 170,000 drug-related deaths in the state last
year, the commission reported.

But to the addict, death isn't a concern, according to Platt.

"Death didn't scare me when I was out there," she said. "It's like
tunnel vision. If you want to get drugs, you'll get them."

Shelling out between $300 to $500 a day to sustain her addiction,
Platt looks back at her destructive habit and is thankful she had the
willingness to overcome it.

"Something hit me when I was sitting in that jail - a spiritual
enlightenment. Something made me shut up and listen," she said. "At
this point I had the willingness; I was tired of running from myself."