When Matthew Knowles graduated last Friday, he had a pretty impressive number to his credit.

That number was 515. That was the total number of days he had been clean and sober when he graduated from Webster County Drug Treatment Court.

He is the newest graduate of an innovative program that helps people with substance abuse problems who are facing the possibility of a prison sentence turn their lives around.

Webster County Drug Treatment Court debuted in December 2014. It is a voluntary program of intensive treatment for people on probation that enables them to kick their drug habit and avoid prison.

The benefits of the program became apparent very quickly. In less than a year, there were program participants who were sober, employed and living in their own homes.

”I’m very happy I got the chance to participate in this program,” Knowles said during his graduation ceremony. ”I was going to end up either in a box or behind bars.”

Michelle Ely, who graduated from the program last year with 750 days of being clean and sober, summed it up like this: ”I feel like drug court saved my life.”

We hope Knowles, Ely and all the other Drug Treatment Court graduates enjoy years and years of drug-free living.

We also hope that the Drug Treatment Court not only continues, but expands. This is a program that helps people get their lives back.

It is a rigorous program and inevitably, some people wash out. But those who stick with it emerge with a new lease on life. Ely, Knowles and all the other graduates can testify to that. The irrepressible smiles on the faces of the graduates and their friends and relatives tell the whole story on graduation day.

The Webster County Drug Treatment Court creates drug-free, productive citizens without having to send them to prison. It deserves our support.