Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jun 2005
Source: Chapel Hill News (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Chapel Hill News
Contact:  http://www.chapelhillnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1081
Author: Mark Schultz
Note: First of two parts
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

DRUG TREATMENT COURT TARGETS DEFENDANTS' ADDICTIONS

"Two years," Kenneth Hewett says when asked how long he's been
sober.

"Almost two years."

After drinking since he was 14 and mixing drugs and alcohol since he
was 27, the gray-goateed Hewett isn't taking any days of his sobriety
for granted.

He might still be drinking and taking painkillers, he says, if he
hadn't been admitted to Orange County's drug treatment court a year
ago.

Now 51, Hewett was arrested after a pharmacist got suspicious and
contacted police. He had been getting friends to write him
prescriptions for Vicodin, a powerful pain medication he became hooked
on after a motorcycle accident busted up his knee.

After his arrest, Hewett lost his business and his 21-year marriage.
But he says he got a new start in drug court, which gives non-violent
offenders with substance-abuse problems a chance to stay out of prison.

Orange County's drug treatment court started three years ago. It meets
the second and fourth Wednesday of each month in the courtroom in the
Franklin Street post office.

Chief District Court Judge Joe Buckner, who presides, estimates that
85 percent of the criminal defendants he sees have a drug or alcohol
problem or brain disorder. Or both. And because he deals with mostly
lower-level crimes, he says he can see the same people in his
courtroom two and three times a week.

"We have to figure out better ways of doing things," Buckner told drug
court "alumni" and supporters last weekend at Freedom House, the
rehabilitation program off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
"[Because] the alternative to not helping this population is pretty
clear."

Hewett, wearing a barbecue apron, was one of three alumni who spoke at
the cookout, held just across the road from a town ball field.

He used to drink every day, he said.

Wine, or whatever was in the house. It didn't keep him from running
his business, a dental laboratory. He would drink in the afternoon.

He was a "functioning alcoholic."

It was almost a relief to get caught, Hewett said. He'd tried
Alcoholic Anonymous, but it hadn't been enough. It's taken the
structure of drug treatment court and the support of those running it
to make this attempt at sobriety stick, so far.

"It's so cliche to say they care about you, but they do care about
you," Hewett said, his face turning red and his voice suddenly
breaking with emotion.

One day early on, his probation officer, "a bear of a man," came up
and hugged Hewett's neck. Hewett stopped telling the story, removed
his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"And he said, 'We're gonna get through this together.' . It touched my
heart."

In addition to drug tests, participants undergo group therapy,
probation counseling and must complete a six-month "after-care"
program where they help other participants. That's where Hewett is
now.

Hewett says he gained spirituality in drug treatment
court.

"I learned there was something bigger than me. I learned there was
something bigger controlling the universe than Kenny Hewett."

"And I got some damn good treatment," he added. "Judge Joe Buckner
saved my life. He threw me a lifeline, and I grabbed it."

Next week: A prosecutor's perspective on drug treatment
court.

Mark Schultz is the editor of The Chapel Hill News and the
Orange/Chatham editor for The News & Observer. 
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