Horry drug treatment court expanding in hopes of helping more ‘break the cycle’
Horry County’s drug treatment court program is expanding to allow access to lower-level offenders and those using addiction-deterring medications.
The treatment courts, which also include a mental health program, started in the 15th Judicial Circuit in 2005 and has graduated more than 550 participants through its rigorous program that requires a commitment of 9-18 months, according to a news release from Solicitor Jimmy Richardson.
The expansion will allow people facing first-time drug or alcohol-related offenses to participate in a 90-day program that will require less-frequent monitoring and court appearances.
Candy Townsend, treatment courts director, said the addition is the result of seeing a lot of people entering the criminal justice system that could benefit from some type of intervention but aren’t willing to commit to such a lengthy program.
These newly eligible participants would likely be facing little or no jail time, Townsend explained, but would still receive the benefit of an expunged record upon completion.
“The goal is to start planting seeds,” she said, noting that most current program participants have been arrested multiple times and suffered from addiction for many years. “Maybe if we can get them treatment earlier, get them attached to proper medical professionals, hopefully we can break the cycle for them.”
Townsend noted that this additional program, which will begin in September, won’t take anything away from their current, more intensive programs, which typically total about 80 clients at any given time, with some just starting and others nearing graduation.
Medication-assisted treatment
All programs will also now be available to offenders using medication-assisted treatment, which typically involves methadone or Suboxone, a popular brand of buprenorphine.
That announcement represents a stark change in mindset from just a few years ago, when Solicitor Richardson told The Sun News in 2018 that he worried allowing medication-assisted treatment would be “watering down” the program.
“Suboxone is like a life jacket, which is a good thing, but at some point, you need to take it off and learn to swim,” he said at the time.
Townsend said the difference now is that the programs counselors have received the necessary training to monitor use of those medications to help determine if a participant is misusing them.
They will be looking at a client’s participation in medication-assisted treatment on a case-by-case basis, she said, and they understand there’s no magical fix for substance use disorder, but this is another tool to potentially help people break from addiction, which is the ultimate goal.
