Success Stories

I am a 46 year old female, with a 28 year history of methamphetamine abuse. I have two daughters, age 29 and 23. I am a graduate of the Drug Court Program. After doing two prison terms and nine violations, all for possession and use of meth, I was once again arrested on June 20, 2000 for possession of meth.

I was looking at doing some serious “time” and I felt that there was no hope. I could not stop using on my own.

My lawyer told me about a program called Drug Court that Lassen County was looking into and she asked me if I would be interested in participating. I agreed to try it. With the help, encouragement, and support of the Lassen County probation department, the Alcohol and Drug department, and Judge Ridgely Lazard, I began the process of changing my life.

I went back to college and obtained an Associate of Science degree in Human Services and an Associate of Science in Alcohol and Drug Professional. I volunteered at the Alcohol and Drug Department, and I followed all the rules of the Drug Court Program.

I eventually got a job as a counselor at Lassen County Alcohol and Drug, and was very proud and honored to be a part of the system that helped me turn my life around. I became the Drug Court Counselor and was able to help those in the program obtain the tools and skills necessary to make the “life change” that can happen through the Drug Court Program. I was recently promoted to the position of clinical supervisor.

Drug Court gave me the life changing opportunities I needed to get past a life of addiction and dysfunction and into a life of service helping those with the same issues I faced at one time. It works. Not only have I experienced the program on a personal level, I see it working in the people who are now in the program.

I owe my life to the Drug Court Program.”