Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN)
Copyright: 2005 Kingsport Publishing Corporation
Contact: 
http://gotricities.net/domains/timesnews.net/lettertoEditor.dna?action=new
Website: http://www.timesnews.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437
Author: Walter Littrell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

LIFE CENTER PITCHES METHADONE CLINIC TO LEE SUPERVISORS

JONESVILLE - A company hoping to eventually operate a methadone clinic in 
Lee County may have won a few converts in the crowd after making a pitch to 
the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, but a second delegation speaking against 
such clinics may have kept the company from getting the support it will 
take to locate here.

Tina Bullins, executive director of the Life Center of Galax, told 
supervisors her center was established in 1973 and has been offering opiate 
addiction services for the past five years in Southwest Virginia.

The center is owned by the California-based CRC Health Group, and the 
company has been looking to expand in the region for about three years. 
Bullins said the company operates another treatment center in Cedar Bluff, 
Va., which is utilized by approximately 150 Lee County residents. A ZIP 
code analysis indicated that a center would be most beneficially located in 
the Dryden area, she said, because many patients of the clinics often drop 
out of the treatment program because they can't afford the long drive for 
either financial or time reasons.

Bullins did not identify the proposed location of the clinic but did say 
that a property owner in Dryden has stepped forward to offer a facility. 
Earlier this month Claude Ray, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, 
identified the building as one between a service station and the former 
Wagon Wheel Restaurant on the west end of the community.

Bullins said stories people often hear about methadone clinics are just 
myths. The clinics do not bring more crime or drugs to the area, nor do 
they keep substance abusers addicted to methadone, she said. In fact, 
Bullins said, 68 percent of the patients at the Tazewell County facility 
are either working or students, and 85 percent of clinic patients are 
abstinent within three years.

Responding to questions from supervisors, Bullins said the centers offer 
more than just a daily dose of methadone to help addicts deal with cravings 
for other opiates. The facilities offer individual and group counseling, 
drug testing, laboratory services and more. Most patients come to the 
clinic every day for approximately 90 days and eventually can taper off to 
just one or two visits per month. The cost of the treatment is $77 per 
week, she said, and grants are available for some indigent patients.

Bullins said some patients eventually earn the privilege of taking 
medication home in liquid form, but they are closely monitored, and the 
dispensing of the methadone is carefully regulated by both the state and 
federal government.

Ed Ohlinger, regional director of outpatient services, added that the 
clinic will be a nondescript building, and neighbors won't really know it 
is there because most patients come between 5 and 6 a.m. for their daily 
dose. Security officers patrol the parking lot to keep undesirables and 
problems away.

Ohlinger said before the company opens such a clinic, it will conduct 
community meetings to educate the public on the need and purpose of the 
clinic. In fact, he said, a community group is being formed to help garner 
support for the clinic. He provided supervisors with a wealth of 
information on his company and on methadone and opiate treatment programs 
and encouraged them to study it before making a decision.

Supervisor D.J. Barker advised the two that he had not supported another 
addiction treatment facility in the area until organizers of that group 
assured him there would be no methadone dispensed in their program. He then 
asked why he should support an organization that admits it plans to do so.

Ray observed that while he was convinced there was a need for addiction 
treatment, he was not convinced that it was needed "in our back yards."

By this point in the presentation, an unidentified member of the audience 
told the board that he has been in a methadone maintenance program for four 
years and knows the effectiveness of the program firsthand. Another speaker 
admitted that he had appeared to speak against the clinic, but after the 
presentation he was convinced of the need and would support the clinic.

"We have an OxyContin problem in Lee County, so let's get the people some 
help," he remarked.

Sam Dillon from Planning District 1 Behavioral Health Services and Doug 
Varney, CEO of Frontier Health, told supervisors that methadone programs do 
have value, but they had concerns with for-profit companies being involved.

The men questioned the statistics for success rates quoted by Bullins and 
Ohlinger.

As the meeting wound down, another speaker from the audience encouraged 
supervisors to allow the clinic to locate in Dryden. She noted that she's 
taken friends and family members to various clinics in the region and seen 
the effectiveness of them and said Lee County addicts deserve the same 
service as those in more urban areas such as Richmond or Norfolk.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth