Drug court graduates thankful

Lorita Placencia and Tanya Ackerman were both smiling as they accepted accolades from Third Judicial District Chief Judge Joseph A. Bueltel.
The two women are 78th and 79th graduates of the Steele Waseca Drug Court. They began the program within days of one another in November 2019.
Placencia told the judge and those attending her graduation ceremony the day before Thanksgiving that she was thankful for drug court.
“I had to ask myself, do I want better for myself? Do I want a life of freedom? Do I want to keep going back to jail? Do I want better relationships with my family members?”
The answer was “yes,” but the journey was far from easy, said Palcencia, adding that she now wants to become a licensed alcohol drug counselor and is working on her bachelor’s degree in Human Services.
“I told my probation officer, I need help. This is not who I want to be,” Palcencia said. “I told her I’m going to die out here or end up in jail.”
Ackerman said it was ironic that the two were graduating together.
Prior to entering drug court, she said the two hung out together and used drugs together.
Placencia faced 48 months in prison when she entered the program after several probation violation on a felony third-degree controlled substance sale case.
Ackerman also faced prison time when she entered the program after several probation violations on a felony second-degree controlled substance sale case.
On graduation day, they had 743 days of sobriety combined.
Since its inception in July 2014, Drug Court Coordinator Nicole Gram said the drug court program has served more than 200 participants with more than 100 either withdrawing -- to serve their jail or prison time or transfer to another drug court -- or being terminated because of new criminal behavior or rejection of services.
As an alternative to incarceration, drug courts throughout the country reduce the costs of repeatedly processing high-risk, high-need substance abusers through the courts, jails, and prisons while providing offenders a pathway to recovery.
Participants are required to abstain from substance use, to be accountable for their behavior and to fulfill the legal responsibilities of the offenses they have committed.
There are currently 31 participants in the local drug court.