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To avoid prison, she must get cleanBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COM"I messed up," reads the plea in careful, girlish script. "I used. I don't know why or what's wrong with me. ... I thought I didn't have a problem, that I could just quit. But I'm wrong. How can all those other people just quit? ... What if I can't get better? I don't want to be this way anymore. ... I want to be normal again." The 'carrot' is help; the 'stick' is jailBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMDuring the past decade, the number of participants in Kentucky's drug courts has grown from 16 to more than 1,726. By the end of 2007, drug courts will serve every Kentucky county. A limited few get the limited resourcesBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMIf you don't have health insurance, prepare for a long wait for drug or alcohol treatment in Kentucky. Partly that's because those in drug court and others get first dibs on limited government funds. |
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When all is lostBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMTonio Smith stares mutely out the window as his mother, Dawn Nicole Smith, slumps, smoking, in a stained chair. The 8-year-old's eyes are solemn beneath black bangs as his mother stares unseeing into some middle distance. When should drug users lose their kids?By Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMDrug court caseworkers seek to maintain a difficult balance between what's best for parents trying to get off drugs and the welfare of their children. With drug court's help, some people do get their lives backBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMTough-looking guys with long ponytails and leather jackets leaned forward, heads in hands, as the audience in the auditorium hushed to absolute silence. Prescription tracker could raise red flagBy Mary MeehanMMEEHAN1@HERALD-LEADER.COMWhile in drug court, Dawn Nicole Smith says, she used her state Medicaid card to pay for painkillers. So, essentially, taxpayers were paying for her treatment for addiction and for her drugs. |
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