Curing Our Coast, What Purpose Does Drug Court Serve On Addiction Front

SNOW HILL — A young woman wearing a pink tank top and striped yoga pants walks into the Worcester County Circuit Court house carrying her young son, who has likely not yet celebrated his second birthday. The flopping of her flip-flops against her heels reverberate throughout the quiet courtroom as she turns off her cell phone without prompting and accepts a sheet of paper from a court official. She sits down in a section of the courtroom where dozens of other people ranging in ages from 18 to 60 are seated. Some exchange pleasantries while others are poker faced and either staring at a spot on the ceiling or at something in their shoelaces. All of the people are dressed more for the gym or to cut the lawn than they are to appear in court. Many of their faces are glazed in a blank and somewhat vacant stare, but all of the faces in this courtroom are noticeably weathered with countless miles traveled down the wrong road or path.

If you really want to get a true snapshot of what the heroin epidemic in Worcester County looks like, drug court would be a good place to start.

As the woman sits and calms her baby with a pacifier, an officer leads three shackled prisoners into the courtroom and seats them in a different pew to the left of the bench. Entering the courtroom next is a team of lawyers and court coordinators, each carrying larger stacks of case files than the next. Soon, all in the hall will stand as Judge Thomas C. Groton III enters the room, strikes his gavel and starts calling each of the 30 or so people in the hall to the stand one by one.

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