‘Life or Meth’

A&E program featuring local youth, court gets Emmy nomination

Kelly Foreman

When Madison County Judge Brandy Oliver Brown was asked to participate in an A&E; Classroom special about methamphetamine, she said never anticipated it would be as professional or as far-reaching as the show has turned out to be.

Yet the miniseries, titled “Life or Meth,” has been recognized nationally with a nomination for a daytime entertainment Emmy award. The show is up against four others nominated in the Outstanding Special Class Special category, including a 9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero Fifth Anniversary show and the 80th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The awards ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast live June 15 on CBS.

“I never anticipated it would be this big of a deal,” Brown said. “When we got the letter, I was like, 'Wow.'”

Brown’s juvenile drug court is featured prominently in one of the later portions of the miniseries along with one of the court’s participants, a 17-year-old Berea citizen who only is named as “Justin.”

“Kentucky is somewhat of a leader in the drug court program,” Brown said. “They (A&E;) contacted the Administrative Office of the Courts and asked if there were any programs they could use for this special. The drug court people in Frankfort suggested our juvenile drug court program.”

The miniseries presents stories from recovering meth addicts who offer a glimpse into their lives while they were meth users. Sitting on the Madison County Courthouse front lawn, Justin explained that he was introduced to the drug by one of his friends and instantly was hooked.

“After I tried it, you know, I couldn’t get enough of it,” Justin said on the show. “I loved everything about it — the smell, the taste — everything.”

But Justin didn’t love the side effects. Before long, Justin said he began losing weight, became extremely pale and bumps began to form on his face. He didn’t care about anything, he said, and his attitude as a whole began to change. Before long he developed “meth mouth,” he said.

“It’s where you get these big holes in your teeth where all the acids and stuff are in the drug,” Justin said. “Like it eats your teeth away. It was just nasty looking. I didn’t like it at all. And they would hurt a lot, my gums would hurt a lot. So I started going to the doctor. One day I was brushing my teeth and this big chunk fell out of my tooth. It was where it was rotted. Finally they caught it and I got my teeth fixed.”

Several other former users talked about their addictions and how it changed them. Counselors, doctors, dentists, law enforcement officials and psychiatrists spoke about their interactions with meth users. Justin spoke about hitting his lowest point and then being arrested.

“I got put in drug court,” he said. “Then I slipped up dirty a couple times after that, I used a couple times. That will make you think a lot. It makes you think about what you love and what you want to do in life, and I wasn’t going nowhere smoking crank. So I had to quit. That was just something I couldn’t do no more.”

Justin chose drug court over being sent to boot camp, he said, when he learned that drug court was designed to help people like him get off drugs. The show filmed one of Justin’s actual court appearances and Brown speaks periodically between clips about the court hearing.

“You are emphasizing treatment as much as you are emphasizing punishment,” Brandy said on the show. “In my mind, it just makes more sense.”

The show’s producers were in Richmond for about two days and did a lot of shots around town and interviews in addition to filming inside the courtroom, Brown said.

“They basically show a highlight of the program and how it works as an alternative,” Brown said. “It shows how courts and the community are using it to combat drug addiction.”

Working with the A&E; crew was a different experience, Brown said.

“I have been interviewed and been on camera for different things, but they were always local,” Brown said. “They (the A&E; crew) were all from New York and were professional, career television, presumably successful people working for a prominent network,” she said. “It was a little intimidating, but also very interesting because after we got finished with filming, they all said, ‘It was so nice working with you, we really think what you are doing is cool.’ And they wanted to hear more about it personally. The filming was of course far more advanced and professional than what you would normally encounter. They had big lights and microphones I was not used to.”

Brown said she wanted to represent the program realistically and the community well. She agreed to do the program not only to get exposure for Kentucky and the hard work the state has put into drug court, but also because a lot of hard work was put into getting the program in Madison County and funding for it could be in danger.

“I think it is important that these programs continue,” Brown said. “If the community knows about the program and believes in it, in a lot of ways that translates into people being willing to donate time, money and some of their resources.”

After seeing the final product, Brown said she was very happy with it and thought it spoke highly of the Madison County jurisdiction as well as the local program.

“The producers all seemed to be very impressed with what we are doing,” Brown said. “That makes you feel good about your work and what you’re doing. And the kids, of course, were really excited.”

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.

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