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Community deserves a hand for fighting drugs

By Samantha Karam 3 min read

Last week the Messenger published a story on a recent $150,000 grant. It’s funding a program that’s going to give people their lives back.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) recently awarded Greene these federal funds to establish the county’s first drug court. This program, also called a problem-solving court, prioritizes rehabilitation rather than incarceration for drug-related crimes like possession and theft to support one’s habit.

Drug courts already exist in Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties, and it’s no secret this funding is a long-overdue saving grace for Greene.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, which is training the Greene County Drug Court Team, reported there were 350 criminal cases in Greene County’s Court of Common Pleas in 2017. Thirty-two of those cases involved drugs and 121 were DUIs. This is the most recent data set available.

According to Overdose Free PA, Greene County had 71 reported deaths caused by drug overdoses in the last four years.

“Fentanyl, Heroin, Cocaine, Ethanol, were the most frequently identified substances in decedents (62% of deaths),” Overdose Free PA states.

A common sentiment I’ve noticed around here is that Greene goes forgotten. It’s tucked in the southwestern corner of this commonwealth. It lacks resources and sit-down restaurants. Greene is a small, rural county, and population size is exactly what court administrators say has kept the county from PCCD funding until now.

But something else I’ve noticed is that this community puts in the work when no one else will. As often as Greene goes “forgotten,” as so many say, its residents create opportunity themselves.

In the years leading up to this PCCD grant, the community – your friends and neighbors – established the Coalition for a Brighter Greene, a group of volunteers who’ve been working to make Greene drug-free since 2015.

Community members also spearheaded the county’s Oxford House program: transitional homes that help recovering addicts get back on their feet. A story in this week’s paper shines light on those efforts.

Last year, the county established a local chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a group made of volunteers from the community who support and help children navigate the court system. In a 2018 story on CASA Children and Youth Services reported that Greene County had 155 children who were dependents of the court.

“Out of that 155,” the story states, “116 children are in foster care and 63 percent of those in foster care are there because of parental drug use.”

Even with the sentiment of being forgotten, even with the addiction epidemic, Greene doesn’t accept defeat. This community rallied together and created these opportunities, these programs, out of nothing.

And now, years after the town hall meeting that established the Coalition for a Brighter Greene, you have the funding for Greene County Drug Court, the cherry on top of the mound of resources your community created.

This community deserves a hand for putting in tireless effort to make positive changes. You could’ve thrown your hands in the air and done nothing, but that clearly isn’t the Greene County way.

This community took it upon itself, when funding wasn’t there, when the resources weren’t, either. You persevered when it felt impossible.

This drug court is a long-overdue saving grace, but you, this community of farmers and former coal miners, took the necessary steps to get here.

That’s not bad for a small, rural county tucked in the southwest corner of this commonwealth.

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