Pubdate: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2001 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 Author: Vada Mossavat, Daily Mail staff Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) METHADONE CLINIC OPENING Facility Planned For Martinsburg Third In The State This fall, a third methadone clinic plans to open its doors in West Virginia. A certificate of need was issued to Martinsburg Institute Inc. by the West Virginia Health Care Authority earlier this month. The company operates four methadone clinics in Maryland. Clinical supervisor Ellen Valli said more than 80 West Virginians are being served at a clinic in Frederick, Md. "Instead of having people coming from West Virginia to us, we'll go to them," she said. She said there are a number of good in-patient programs, but only one of them uses methadone as a tool to curb opiate addictions. Methadone treatment of opiate addiction has been used for more than 30 years. It works by the methadone attaching itself to the opiate receptors in the brain and blocks the centers that make the opiods pleasurable. Methadone treatment is effective for heroin, opium and oxycodone addictions. Oxycodone is the active ingredient in the drug OxyContin. It also works for several other often-abused pills such as Vicodin, Dilaudid, hydromorphone and morphine. The Berkley Plaza in Martinsburg is the tentative location for the clinic and October is the tentative opening date, Valli said. The health department and other addiction counseling facilities will be notified of the clinic's opening. Word of mouth usually carries the news about a methadone clinic opening, and Valli said she doesn't think the clinic will advertise. The first methadone clinic in the state was opened just outside the city limits of Charleston in January. The Charleston Treatment Center has served "a significant number" of people since it opened, said Reeve Sams, spokesman for Specialty Clinics, the company that owns the treatment center. About 25 percent of those treated were there for heroin addiction and 75 percent were for OxyContin or other prescription pill addictions. Sams said he had not known about the new clinic but thought it would be good for West Virginia. "We understand that is an area that is probably in need of services," he said. The Charleston Treatment Center has grown beyond what Sams said he expected. He said the clinic is continuing to accept admissions for the methadone treatment, which costs users $12 a day for methadone and counseling. A second methadone clinic, Clarksburg Treatment Center, was issued a certificate of need by the authority in March. Six other certificates of need are pending, according to the authority. Methadone treatment of opiate addiction has sometimes been controversial. Critics have claimed that methadone treatment isn't treatment at all, but rather swapping one addiction for another. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager