Steve Fuller is 47. He admits he looks much older, probably due to 35 years of ongoing drug use.

This time Fuller said he's determined to kick the methamphetamine habit and "start living."

"I got to do something or I'm going end up dead or back in prison," he said.

Fuller, a Napa resident, is one of the clients at Turning Point, a residential drug abuse treatment program in Santa Rosa.

Since Napa County's only residential drug abuse treatment program closed in 2003, the county has been sending patients to Turning Point. The facility is at capacity, with Napa County drug offenders incarcerated in the county jail waiting to get into the program.

Napa County is planning to reopen its detox and residential treatment center, and earlier this year had hoped to have the doors open back in July. But they've been forced to postpone several times, and are not sure when the center on the grounds of Napa State Hospital will open.

"There are still some glitches we are working out. But believe me, it's going to open," said Randy Snowden, director of county health and human services.

Until then, locals convicted of drug use who want to kick the habit will have to do it at Turning Point, a private, nonprofit, 99-bed residential facility that has been around since 1974. It offers eight main programs for men and women 18 or older. Napa County residents convicted of drug possession or use are ordered by the court to the facility.

Napa County pays about $70 a day per person to Turning Point to treat Napa County clients.

"We treat addiction as a disease, rather than a moral failure. And those suffering from the disease need to get into recovery to get well," said Michael Spielman, executive director of Turning Point.

Spielman, who is a 26-year-recovering addict, believes drug users can take their lives back if they complete the programs and continue to seek support from such groups as Narcotics Anonymous.

Marlus Stewart, Turning Point residential services director and a 20-year recovering addict, said, "It's not an easy to kick a drug addiction. We see clients here who have been doing drugs since they were 12. For them, drug use is a part of their lives. They know no other way."

Turning Point offers programs that last between 30 and 270 days. The length of the program depends upon the client's needs, Spielman said. "We do an assessment of the client and decide which programs would be best for his or her recovery."

A typical day for a recovering drug addict starts at 6:45 a.m., with breakfast followed by a morning meeting with all of the clients. From there, each person is assigned chores, like mopping, laundry, cooking, sweeping and working in the outside courtyard. After lunch, clients attend classes. Then it's dinner and recreation time.

For the first two weeks, the clients are restricted to the facility and may have no contact with their family or friends. After 25 days -- and after residents prove they can be trusted -- they can leave the facility to look for work. They are not allowed to have a vehicle, so the facility provides them with bus passes.

Though Turning Point is not a locked-down facility, clients must get permission to leave, and residents are subject to random drug testing.

"Walkaways are rare. They know if they walk out the door without permission, we will be on the phone with their probation officer," Spielman said. "We have high expectations for our clients and zero tolerance for breaking the rules."

For some, Turning Point's rules are just too demanding.

"We have had residents who just can't adapt. It just too hard for them and takes too much of a commitment," Stewart said. "Believe it or not, they prefer prison. They already know how to do that."

In addition to drug abuse and education programs, Turning Point clients are taught living and recovery skills, stress and anger management and relapse prevention.

"Some of the living skills we teach can be a simple as turning off the light when they leave a room. Many of these people have been institutionalized a good deal of their lives, and they don't even knowledge of the simplest of living skills," Spielman said.

Spielman said about 80 percent of those who graduate from Turning Point go on to live outside without re-offending.

"It's a structured environment with support and counselors who believe in what they do. People can get off drugs. It's not an easy road, but when they are taught the skills to understand their addiction and move forward, it can and does happen," he said.

Spielman said the support and education doesn't end when clients graduate and head back into the world.

"I believe one of the reasons for our success is that we follow up on our clients. We have alumni who come back and help us facilitate our programs," he said.

He added that recovering addicts need to start with a stable living situation. "Day treatment programs work for a lot of addicts. But many of them can't make it if they attend classes during the day and find themselves back on the streets at night," he said. "That gives them the time and opportunity to use drugs and commit crimes to get money to buy the drug."

Steve Fuller can vouch for that.

"When I got arrested for drugs in Napa County, the cops would put me in the county jail," he said. "The court would tell me I have to go to a day-treatment program. I'd go. But when classes were over, I was back out on the streets with my drug-using, so-called friends. Some people might think the law is punishing me by sending me to (Turning Point). But I look at it as a gift."