Pubdate: Wed, 31 Jan 2007
Source: Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Copyright: 2007sRome News-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.romenews-tribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1716
Author: Eric Scott Campbell

ADDICTION CLINICS REJECTED BY NEW ALBANY

Two companies that asked the state for permission to  build 
addiction-treatment centers dispensing methadone  in New Albany have 
been denied because local officials  did not support the plans.

Rhode Island-based Discovery House proposed locating  next to 
Wal-Mart at 2820 Grant Line Road, while  Colonial Management Group of 
Florida sought a home  downtown at 700 Pearl St. Both companies 
received rejection letters in mid-January, said Dennis  Rosebrough, 
spokesman for the state's Family and Social  Services Administration.

Neither company could persuade a local official to send  the state a 
letter of recommendation, which is one of  the requirements for 
eligibility the state cemented in  December.

After its application in September, Discovery House  pitched its idea 
to the public in a forum at the New  Albany-Floyd County Public 
Library. The great majority  of the audience opposed the clinic, 
which would have  treated addictions to drugs and alcohol; many 
residents feared such a clinic would lead to more crime and drug  deals nearby.

"Part of the issue that local people and officials had  was 
location," New Albany Mayor James Garner said. He  was "pretty sure" 
in December that the applications  wouldn't succeed.

A Discovery House representative told Garner the  company would apply 
again this year, most likely for a  site elsewhere in the city, 
Garner said. The proximity  to Community Park and Christian Academy 
of Indiana  raised concerns. Discovery House officials could not be 
reached Tuesday.

"It is still a potential that eventually there may be a  clinic," Garner said.

Jeffersonville and Louisville each have methadone  treatment centers.

Mark Gallagher, director of Colonial Management Group,  said his 
company hadn't decided whether to apply again.

"We've run a clinic [in Gary] for a very long time and  like the idea 
of having a couple more" in Indiana,  Gallagher said. "I think I 
personally should have spent  more time going there talking to some 
of the key  players."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman