KEEP DRUG COURT ON JOB IN DURHAM

The Herald-Sun Aug 18, 2004 : 3:51 pm ET Drug addicts often don't get help
until hitting the rocks at the bottom of the pit. Their addiction may have
already robbed them of home, friends and self-respect, but the wake-up
buzzer may not sound until they lose something so precious that the loss is
intolerable.

Such as their children. For addicts so strung out that child neglect
becomes child abuse, the Department of Social Services can invoke the
ultimate penalty, removing children from their parent and placing them with
a foster family. At that point, the parent's choice is stark: Choose
between your drugs and your children. Having both isn't an option.

That was the question on the table for Alice Campbell after her two girls,
ages 10 and 7, were taken from her while she was out feeding a serious
cocaine habit. She had already sunk far into addiction, working the streets
as a prostitute, risking disease and violence just to keep using. When the
children were taken, Campbell said it felt like a knife in the heart, but
she still couldn't stop.

Campbell told her story in an article by John Stevenson in Wednesday's
Herald-Sun. One of the little miracles she experienced was a persistent
inner voice telling her to seek help. "I didn't want to live like that
anymore," she said.

Another miracle was that help was available in a special Durham court.
Those who come to Durham's family treatment court, one of only two such
programs in the state, aren't like defendants in criminal court. They come
willingly and must agree to live by the rules, including drug testing and
mandatory Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Falling off the wagon brings jail
time: 24 hours for the first offense; 48 for the second, 30 days for the
third. For addicts like Campbell, family court offers one huge incentive
for success -- the possibility of getting the kids back. After being
drug-free for nearly two years, that joyous day came last month for
Campbell. "I thank God for family drug court," she said. They are very
strict, but it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Chief District Judge Elaine M. O'Neal presides over the court. Some
participants can't break free, she said, "but it works more often than
not." And when dealing with drug addiction, that's saying quite a lot. It
goes with the territory that programs like this have funding problems. A
$150,000 grant from the Governor's Crime Commission ran out recently, and
family drug court is now running on $67,200 from the state legislature. A
program achieving success against two of society's most pernicious ills --
addiction and family breakdown -- deserves favorable attention at budget time.