How should our local courts deal with the multiple drug related cases which come before them? That question and others will be addressed at a town hall meeting set for Thursday, April 10, 2014 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Harding High School in the cafetorium.
Members of the STAND Coalition (formerly the Marion County Opiate Task Force) have marshaled their resources to confront the opiate drug abuse, a problem they say is an epidemic in Ohio. The meeting is an outgrowth of the Opiate Task Force – formed in July of 2011, a partnership of organizations and individuals that are seeking to attack the issue on a multi-pronged front, according to Jody Demo-Hodgins, director of the Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board.
This year the topic is Drugs and the Courts and will feature two local judges, a person in recovery, and a treatment professional. The format is designed to provide information on new partnerships between the treatment community and the courts, and to provide the public with an opportunity to get their questions answered.
“The current substance abuse culture in Marion has changed in ways that will shock those who never before considered the possibility that they or their loved ones would ever become addicts, much less heroin addicts,” stated Demo-Hodgins. “Many people do not understand how a bottle of pills stored in a household medicine cabinet can be linked by a surprisingly short route to heroin that is purchased from street dealers.”
Demo-Hodgins said the goal of the town hall meeting is to provide information and education for attendees specific to what takes place in a drug court.
“A family dependency treatment court is designed to help break the cycle of addiction and neglect through monitoring treatment and working closely with Children Services, treatment providers and women in recovery,” said Judge Robert Fragale, who presides over a family dependency treatment court in Marion. “The overall goal is to help preserve families.”
Fragale explained that the court is directed at individuals who have chronic, long term drug use and are at risk to losing their children.
Judge Jim Slagle started a drug court at the Marion County Court of Common Pleas last June. The primary goal of the court is to improve public safety by reducing future drug related offenses. The court, probation staff and treatment professionals use a team approach to hold offenders accountable.Participants are drug tested twice a week, meet with their probation officer three times a week and appear before Judge Slagle.
“We are dealing with individuals who have a chronic disease of addiction. They must actively participate in treatment to have a successful recovery,” stated Slagle.
Both courts have been certified by the Ohio Supreme Court as specialty docket. The Court of Common Pleas follows the best practices prescribed by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. This includes a specific target population, use of incentives and sanctions as well as substance abuse treatment. The Marion Family Dependency Treatment Court follows a similar model set forth by the National Drug Court Institute.
The town hall meeting program is free and open to the public. You can call the ADAMH board at 387-8531 for more information.
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