Honorable Judge Steiner:

I am writing to you today on behalf on Jan Smith. Jan is scheduled on the docket to appear before you at 11:00 a.m. on June 21 2009 for probation violation.

Jan is a 39 year of woman who has made some bad decisions in the past. She got involved with illegal drugs due to medical and mental issues she has battled for the majority of her life. Jan is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Migraine Headaches. Due to her socioeconomic status she went untreated for years. Once she did seek treatment she encountered the next barrier of having no insurance and the cost of the medications prescribed by physicians and psychiatrists being so far out of her monetary grasp. Jan’s medication for migraines alone ranges from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars PER pill at the most cost efficient pharmacy.

As many other people have done, Jan attempted to self-medicate with disastrous results to every nuance of her life. Jan became addicted to chemicals and as happens with all people who suffer from the disease of addiction, her life took a downward spiral. When she was arrested she was spinning out of control and those of us who knew her believed she was a heartbeat away from death. Such is the evolution of the disease of addiction. The authorities stepped in and incarcerated her not a moment to soon. Jan spent time in the Monroe County Jail and it was during this time she began to detox from the chemicals in her system.

Jan spent several weeks in a rehabilitation facility which offered her the basic tools of the 12 Step program as well as helping her to understand the unresolved issues that were a factor in how she turned to drugs initially.

When she graduated the inpatient portion of her treatment she entered the next phase of rehabilitation; outpatient meetings and classes. Jan attended all required meetings and classes with faith, hope and a new found love and respect for herself. However, she went further with her sobriety by attending meetings she was not required to by law, she did independent research to better arm herself against the disease she will do battle with everyday for the rest of her life. In Jan’s personal life she and her husband started couples counseling to improve and stabilize their relationship. Jan made difficult decisions where her friends and family were concerned. The people who were not a positive influence or brought their own dramatic issues into her life, Jan made the sometimes very difficult decision to distance herself from them. Jan worked her way up through the levels of the program with eagerness to gain more knowledge and put the applications to work in her personal life.