(Cleveland) – The 66th Graduation Ceremony of the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, under the direction of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lauren C. Moore took place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 28, 2020 in the Cuyahoga County Jury Assembly Room located on the fourth floor of the Justice Center.

A total of 16 people graduated, bringing the total number of people who have successfully completed the program to 1,829 since it began in 1998.

There were several “firsts” with the graduation.  For one, a mother and her son graduated at the same time.  Also, because of the pandemic, no friends or family members of the graduates were there in person as in past graduations, but they were able to participate via Zoom.  (At one point, there were about 30 people that took the virtual route.)

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Bianca Trimbitas, a June graduate now 15 months sober following a decade-long addiction to drugs.  Her message to the new class was clear and concise.

“We all need to be held accountable.  While going through the Drug Court Program, you have to stay clean, but to be successful you have to want to stay clean.”

Participants in the Greater Cleveland Drug Court generally spend 12 to 20 months in the program. Longer cases may occur due to the fact that opiate addicts generally need more treatment time.  This year, four of the graduates entered the program with felonies, while the others were charged with lesser offenses.

Specialized dockets like the Greater Cleveland Drug Court are dedicated to handling offenses related to substance abuse, and use a combination of techniques for holding the offenders accountable while also addressing the underlying causes of their behavior.

There are more than 150 specialized dockets in Ohio. In 2014, this particular docket was certified by the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Drug Court Program began in the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1998 and has since expanded to other parts of Cuyahoga County.