Drug court featured in documentary

MEDINA -- "Second Chances: One year in Ohio's Drug Courts" opens with an emotional woman staring at a three-story gray home. "To know that's where the disaster started," she said as the camera focuses on her. "That's where my connection with my kids was lost. That's where I stopped being a mom." It's the start of Chastity McGraw's story. McGraw participated in Medina County Adult Drug Court and her story is one of many featured in a documentary that will screen free to the public at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Medina School's Performing Arts Center located at 851 Weymouth Road, Medina. Sponsored by the Medina County Alcohol, Drug Addictions and Mental Health Board, the screening will show the full 60-minute documentary produced in conjunction with the Ohio Supreme Court that followed participants of Medina County Adult Drug Court through their journey through recovery and other life challenges. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and Sérénité Restaurant and Culinary Training Institute will provide light refreshments. A panel discussion of participants and professionals in the field will follow the documentary. The documentary is not just about Medina County. It offers a glimpse into what it takes to go through drug court through the eyes of participants in Medina, Marion and Hocking counties. "We know, through multiple studies, that drug courts are very effective in combating substance use disorder," Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor said in a statement. "These programs are successful because they combine the carrot-and-stick approach that enables judges to use the possibility of prison time and the prospect of a felony conviction to incentivize participants to complete drug treatment programs." The nature of the substance abuse problem is always changing, but one response that remains consistently effective is drug court. Earlier this summer, the success of Medina County's drug court was celebrated in Medina's Public Square where people in recovery stood in the gazebo and told their stories at the National Drug Court Awareness event. There were about 100 in attendance. "The drug court never gave up on me. I learned the tools to be sober," then said Danielle Hommel, who graduated from the program in 2016. In the film, Medina County Common Pleas Judge Joyce Kimbler said Medina's idyllic nature covers up its strong connection to drugs. That connection was there when film crews visited Medina County in 2016 and remains today -- although strides are being made. According to the Medina County Drug Task Force, as of June 23, Medina has had a steady decrease in opiate overdoses from 260 in 2016 to 50 to date in 2019. Deaths have declined from 37 in 2016 to five to date in 2019. The average overdose is a male in his mid-30s. Cocaine, LSD and PCP are making a re-emergence, according to drug task force data. Statewide, methamphetamine use increased in Ohio by 170 percent. In 2018, the Medina County drug task force seized three times the amount of methamphetamine than the previous year.