Pubdate: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 Source: Charleston Gazette (WV) Copyright: 2003 Charleston Gazette Contact: http://www.wvgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/77 Author: Tara Tuckwiller Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) 5 NEW METHADONE CLINICS PROPOSED FOR W.VA. Proposed Bill Would Put Drug Under State Regulation For First Time Methadone customers in Kanawha County might be able to get their daily dose for a dollar less, if a Florida company is allowed to open a second methadone clinic in the county. It's one of five new methadone clinics proposed for West Virginia this month. The others would be in Nicholas, Mercer, Mineral and Greenbrier counties. West Virginia had zero methadone clinics in 2001. For-profit clinics have been popping up all over the state ever since. West Virginia is attractive to methadone sellers because it has no state regulations on methadone, a synthetic drug used to wean addicts off illegal drugs. West Virginia's OxyContin addicts are a major market for methadone sellers, but many of the clinics' customers come from border states that have strict rules on methadone sales. Delegate Marshall Long, D-Mercer, is a family doctor. He plans to introduce a bill this legislative session to regulate methadone, which is extremely addictive and can kill novice users who buy it on the street. "What I hope to do is extract the best of all the surrounding states' legislation to come up with a bill that will help solve our problem," Long said. West Virginia's nonprofit mental health centers should run the clinics, rather than out-of-state corporations "who are profiteering on our citizens," he said. "Methadone clinics are reaping huge, huge, huge profits," he said. "We have trouble funding our mental-health centers ... What better way to fund them?" One corporation, National Specialty Clinics, runs six methadone clinics in West Virginia and many in other states. It's being bought by a bigger methadone seller, CRC Health Group Inc., so earlier this month NSC had to withdraw its plans to open methadone clinics in Mercer, Mineral and Greenbrier counties. It had already gotten permission from the state Health Care Authority to open the clinics, but the state wouldn't transfer that permission to the new parent corporation. A day after the state approved CRC's buyout of the West Virginia methadone clinics, CRC reapplied to open the Mercer, Mineral and Greenbrier clinics. Those must go through the whole Health Care Authority process again. Meanwhile, another corporation wants to sell methadone in Kanawha and Nicholas counties for $11 per day - a dollar less per day than West Virginia's existing clinics sell it. Colonial Management Group operates methadone clinics in 14 states. The corporation's board also has voted to try to open a clinic in Monongalia County. The Kanawha County clinic would be located near Charleston - which already has a methadone clinic - and the Nicholas County clinic would be near Summersville, according to the applications. Colonial Management said it would reserve five spots in each clinic for people who cannot afford to pay for treatment. West Virginia's existing methadone clinics will not treat anyone who cannot pay cash each day. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom