Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Roanoke Times
Contact:  http://www.roanoke.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368
Author: Laurence Hammack, The Roanoke Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

METHADONE CLINIC FACES LAWSUIT

The legal action will have no immediate effect on the clinic's
day-to-day operations, said the attorney for clinic opponents.

As recovering drug addicts went to a brick building on Hershberger
Road to take methadone this week, opponents went to the Roanoke
courthouse to try to shut the treatment center down.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, members of Concerned Northwest Citizens
sought an injunction to force the closure of the methadone clinic,
which they consider a menace to the neighborhood.

"They are legalized drug dealers," Judy Ferguson said at a recent
meeting of clinic opponents. "We've got a crack house opening up on
Hershberger Road."

Officials with the Roanoke Treatment Center - which began dispensing
methadone Monday after more than a year of preparation - vowed to
defend their effort to provide needed drug treatment to the region.

"We will fight" the lawsuit, said Joe Pritchard of CRC Health Group.
"Now that we're open and treating patients, we will do whatever it
takes to continue to help the citizens of Roanoke."

The lawsuit claims the clinic is operating illegally in three ways:
CRC did not obtain a special zoning exception; the 3208 Hershberger
Road location is too close to several schools; and drawing drug
addicts to a residential area will create a public nuisance.

Opponents have blasted the city for issuing a business license to the
clinic. But the attorney they hired, Michael Bragg of Abingdon,
decided not to name the city as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Thursday's legal action against the clinic will have no immediate
effect on its day-to-day operations, Bragg said during a news
conference Thursday at the city courthouse that was attended by about
30 supporters.

In defending the lawsuit, CRC is likely to point out that the clinic
has cleared a number of regulatory hurdles at the local, state and
federal levels. "I can say very clearly that we feel we have a right
to be where we are, legally and ethically," Pritchard said.

The lawsuit makes three major arguments, which have been addressed to
some degree during more than a year of controversy:

. Although a methadone clinic is allowed in the C-2 zoning district
that includes Hershberger Road, CRC failed to obtain a special
exception it needed from the city Board of Zoning Appeals, the lawsuit
states.

However, the ordinance that requires such an exception was passed by
Roanoke City Council in December 2003, about a month after the city
issued a business license for the clinic. City officials have said
that because the clinic met all existing requirements at the time the
license was issued, it has a vested right to operate on Hershberger
Road.

. Because of the center's proximity to William Ruffner Middle School
and other schools, it violates a law passed last year by the General
Assembly that bars methadone clinics from operating within a half-mile
of any school or state-licensed day care center, the lawsuit state
s.

But when the law was passed last year, even its sponsors said the
Hershberger Road clinic would not be affected. Clinics that had
obtained a certificate of occupancy under the laws in effect on Jan.
1, 2004, are exempt from the law. The Roanoke clinic was issued a
certificate of occupancy on Dec. 24, 2003.

However, Bragg argues in the lawsuit that the clinic does not fall
under the exemption, in part because the city's approval for a
"medical clinic" does not allow a "substance abuse clinic."

. By attracting drug addicts who neighbors fear will bring crime and
traffic congestion to the area, the clinic amounts to a "continuing
private and public nuisance," the lawsuit states.

But at least in the clinic's first month of operation, that does not
appear to be the case. "We really haven't noticed any increase in
problems, traffic or otherwise," said Aisha Johnson, spokeswoman for
the Roanoke Police Department.

Police and school officials in Galax have reported no problems with a
methadone clinic there, which is owned by CRC and located about three
blocks from an elementary school. The dozen or so patients currently
receiving methadone at the Roanoke clinic had previously attended the
Galax clinic, Pritchard said.

The lawsuit also states that the clinic will become a regional hub for
addicts who will come to Roanoke in search of a drug that can impair
their ability to drive and exercise sound judgment.

"That's not true," said Mark Parrino, president of the American
Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence. Courts have found
that methadone does not impair driving when used properly, he said.

By citing the half-mile "safe zone" between methadone clinics and
schools, the lawsuit could invite a challenge to the new state law.

The American Civil Liberties Union has said such a law probably
violates the Americans with Disabilities Act because it restricts
treatment for drug addicts, which courts have found to be a disabled
class.

Patients at methadone clinics take a daily dose of the synthetic
narcotic, which curbs their craving for opium-based drugs such as
heroin and OxyContin, as part of a treatment plan that also includes
counseling and tests for illegal drugs.

Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the ACLU's Virginia chapter, said
Thursday that she plans to speak with CRC about what role her group
might play in the upcoming litigation. Pritchard said he would welcome
any participation from the ACLU.

Clinic opponents say that while they do not object to drug addicts'
receiving treatment, putting the clinic in a residential neighborhood
close to several schools is bound to cause trouble.

"It is almost totally a question of location," said Oglivier Quarles,
one of seven Northwest Roanoke residents listed as plaintiffs in the
lawsuit. "We are not opposed to the treatment itself."
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