Pubdate: Thu, 22 Feb 2007
Source: Times-Journal, The (Fort Payne, AL)
Copyright: 2007 Times-Journal
Contact:  http://www.times-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1883
Author: Greg Pervis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

CLINIC TREATY IN WORKS

A Group Of Leaders In Fort Payne Are Telling The State They Don't Want Any

Fort Payne Mayor Bill Jordan, DeKalb County District Attorney Mike 
O'Dell, Fort Payne Police Chief David Walker, Stacy Neely with DeKalb 
County Court Referral and Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe met in 
Montgomery Wednesday to discuss a proposed methadone clinic coming to 
Fort Payne.

"Fort Payne is a town that is in need of a lot of things," said 
Jordan. "But a methadone clinic is just not one of those things. We 
don't want any methadone clinic in Fort Payne."

Jim Sanders, deputy director of the State Health Planning and 
Development Agency, said the state understands that many people may 
be opposed to the idea of a methadone clinic opening in the city. 
Sanders said the Certificate of Need Board was scheduled to vote on 
accepting the former Scooters restaurant as the fourth location for 
the proposed clinic on Wednesday in Montgomery.

The result left no assurances on either side.

"That vote was tabled, and has been rescheduled for April 18," 
Sanders said. "The board is giving the clinic and the city time to 
work out some kind of compromise."

The Sand Mountain Recovery Center, which is owned by Holland and 
Heatherly Inc., a company that also manages a methadone clinic in 
Cullman, had been hoping the board would approve their latest 
proposed site for the Fort Payne clinic.

O'Dell was not happy about the board's decision Wednesday.

"Our team that went down to Montgomery came to the consensus that it 
wasn't if we were going to have a methadone clinic in Fort Payne, but 
when," O'Dell said. "There are some things we are not happy about. We 
are strongly opposed to a methadone clinic coming here. But the 
certificate of need board is adamant about bringing a methadone clinic here."

Sanders said he thinks the city would be amenable to a clinic opening 
outside the city limits, in an unincorporated part of DeKalb County, 
but said the clinic indicated they were already paying rent at the 
Scooter's location.

O'Dell said he had surveyed methadone clinics in a 100-mile area 
surrounding Fort Payne, including clinics in Tennessee, Georgia and 
other parts of Alabama. He added that he could find only a small 
number of DeKalb County residents who use the facilities.

"We're going to be importing addicts from other places," O'Dell said. 
"And we're going to be importing other problems, too."

Heatherly said that methadone, a synthetic opiate similar to 
morphine, is used to treat addiction to prescription drugs, such as 
Lortab, Vicodin and OxyContin.

"Many areas that do not have a significant problem with heroin do 
have a problem with these [pain pills]. This is a problem in north 
Alabama and many other places."

Barron, who also attended the Wednesday meeting, said he considered 
the board's decision hopeful.

"Yes, I think we won a partial victory," Barron said. "We had a nice 
delegation down, and [everyone] represented Fort Payne well. We were 
strong in our feeling this site was not acceptable, and there is no 
need for a clinic in Fort Payne. The board wants us to compromise on 
the location, but I don't know where that would be. I'm opposed to it 
being in north Alabama at all. We do not have a problem with opiates. 
We have a problem with crystal meth, and methadone has nothing to do 
with that."

Heatherly said there is a significant opiate addiction problem in 
Alabama, and she was interested in doing what she could to alleviate it.

"This is about politics," Heatherly said.

Barron disagrees. "It's about money. This company is making a lot of it."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman