Graduation is not a guarantee for success, said Drug Court Judge Calvin Murashige. He was addressing 10 graduates who completed the Drug Court program and were celebrating the Eighth Drug Court graduation before an overflow audience of relatives, friends and
Graduation is not a guarantee for success, said Drug Court Judge Calvin Murashige.
He was addressing 10 graduates who completed the Drug Court program and were celebrating the Eighth Drug Court graduation before an overflow audience of relatives, friends and supporters of the graduates.
Among those in attendance, state Sen. Gary Hooser said the Friday afternoon ceremony came down to choices.
“Choices are made daily,” Hooser said in his remarks. “You are here because of the good choice you made. From here, it’s one choice at a time.”
Murashige said graduation recognizes the accomplishments of the graduates but also places the burden of being clean and sober on them.
“From today, we expect you to be clean and sober,” Murashige told the graduates. “There will be no one to hold your hands, but the Drug Court staff will always be there for advice.”
Murashige said there is the added pressure of knowing that the actions of the graduates impact not only their own lives, but that of the Drug Court program itself.
“If you come back, it shows the program is not successful,” Murashige said, pointing out that Hooser and state Rep. Jimmy Tokioka were in the audience as representatives of the state which has funded the program since 2003.
Alton Amimoto, reading from a letter from Mayor Bryan Baptiste, said this was the biggest class since the program started based on a community outcry for programs to help with substance abuse.
The path to graduation was not a smooth one as each of the graduates spoke of the rehabilitative process involved with their personal addiction.
“When you was on drugs, you used to forget to pay the car and electricity,” wrote Kanna and Alden, children of one of the graduates. “You used to come home late and we would call uncle and aunty if we needed to go some place. We played with candles because there was no light.”
Tears flowed as the family was reunited when the mother’s name was announced.
“You are all my angels,” the mother told the judge and staff of the Drug Court, thankful for the chance to rebuild not only her life, but reunite her family.
The reasons for addiction were as varied as the graduates, but in Murashige’s courtroom, they all shared a common bond — “I am a recovering addict.”
“I drove you guys (Drug Court staff) crazy,” said another graduate. “One by one, I knocked you out. I thought you guys didn’t know, but you did.”
He admitted the road to recovery was not an easy one, but in the courtroom, he said, “I learned a lot, and all this had no effect until now.”
There were 10 similar stories, entwined with the common thread of recovering after learning they each had a problem.
“Today, you show who we really are, now, and not who we were when we came here,” another graduate said.
Since the inception of the Drug Court, alumni have stepped forward to help others going through the recovery process.
One of them served as usher for the celebration, passing out programs.
“I was once a client of the Drug Court, and today is an exciting feeling,” said former graduate Ellen, who represented the alumni organization. “Your journey begins now. It’s going to be difficult, but you’re not alone.”
Ellen told the graduates God gives you the opportunity for what you want to be in life.
“You make the choices,” she said. “Recovery isn’t easy, but life gets better.”
Kanna and Alden agreed.
“We have a car that runs, now, and we have light and electricity,” the brothers wrote.
