Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland will remain free while he tries to kick a persistent drug habit, a Pasadena, Calif. judge ruled Monday.

Reuters reports Weiland has completed most of the required drug testing and counselling resulting from his no contest pleas to two felony drug possession charges in August.

The 35-year-old musician was arrested in May when police in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank pulled over a car he was riding in and found drugs. At the time, Weiland tested positive for drugs but Judge Colette Serio said he has since stayed clean.

"Overall this is an excellent report," said Serio. "I want to advise you that if you have any other positive tests you will have to go back to residential treatment."

Weiland said the court-mandated counselling program inspired him to go back to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and deal with a heroin and cocaine addiction that led to arrests in Los Angeles in 1995 and 1997, and New York in 1998.

"Sometimes God offers you circumstances that sort of fall in your lap that you thought wouldn't happen," Weiland said outside court on Monday. "Getting busted spurred my desire to seriously get back into recovery."

Weiland said he was looking forward to the February release of an album with his supergorup side project Velvet Revolver. He returns to court in January for a progress report.