When Jessica Howard read “Xanax” and “Lortab” on her illegally obtained prescriptions, they spelled “freedom and happiness” for her.
But seven months into her addiction, she”d lost both her freedom and her happiness, even before she was arrested by Columbus narcotics officers, she said.
“I was just holding in a lot of anger,” she said. “I was medicating my pain.”
Her addiction, which Howard said “really messed me up in a lot of ways,” and had also caused family problems.
“(My drug addiction) has affected them just as much as me,” she said. “I was there, but I wasn”t there.”
Howard, who lives in Columbus with her two young children, credits the Columbus Drug Court and local rehabilitation programs with getting her back on her feet and keeping her out of prison.
The drug court, which was started by the late municipal court judge, Curtis Austin, assigns volunteer participants who have been charged with drug offenses to programs like the women-only Hope House in Lowndes County. There, they attend group therapy, work at getting their Graduate Equivalent Degrees and get help finding jobs, all with supervision from the court.
“What drug court means to me is a second chance at life,” Howard said. “It gives you an opportunity to turn your life around and to be a productive member of society.”
One of Howard”s sister drug court participants, Sara Stokes, who was also arrested for prescription pill abuse, said the drug court staff”s “hope” in her had spurred her to improve herself.
“That inspired me a lot to believe in myself,” she added. “To know that I can change myself and change the old wanna-be friend, the old places and the same old things I did.”
With three children between the ages of 2 and 7, Stokes said she wanted to live her life “in the real world instead of sitting behind bars.”
“(The drug court staff) helped me get my life back together without the drugs,” she said.
If participants qualify for and complete the program and are discharged from drug court, they can have a felony drug charge dropped from their records. Eligibility is based on past and current offenses.
Most of the participants finish drug court within a year, although they can stay in the program up to five years.
Court Coordinator Krystle Osburn said the motto of the drug court was “an approach for hope.”
“It”s given back to the community,” she said of the court. “The more individuals in drug court, the less that are out on the streets using.”
Judge Nicole Clinkscales, who is currently the only municipal court judge with the required national training, oversees the court. She declined to comment, according to Osburn.
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