Kendric Speagle, senior in LAS, is the main backer of a proposed methadone clinic in Champaign to treat heroin addicts. Some Champaign City Council members say that Kendric Speagle is too young to run a methadone clinic in Champaign. Some say he lacks the necessary expertise. Others say he is merely a University undergraduate. Though Speagle is a senior in LAS, he also is a 26-year-old father of a 2-year-old son, a distributor of clean needles to heroin addicts and the main backer of a proposed methadone clinic in Champaign to treat heroin addicts. [continues 727 words]
Some local officials speculate that a methadone clinic to treat heroin addicts will not be located at 12 E. Washington St. as originally planned, because of problems with the design of the treatment program. Harm Reduction Resource Executive Director Kendric Speagle, senior in LAS, said the lease was canceled because of financial and administrative conflicts between Harm Reduction Resource and building owner Leon Jeske. Though Speagle, the main force behind the creation of the methadone clinic, has not found a new site for the clinic, he remains confident that it is only a matter of time before the treatment center becomes a reality. [continues 640 words]
A community forum to discuss a proposed methadone clinic in downtown Champaign will be held at 7 p.m. on April 5 at the Champaign City Building. "The forum is to educate the community about methadone maintenance and to respond to questions and concerns about the proposed location," said Kendric Speagle, senior in LAS and director of Harm Reduction Resource, the not-for-profit group that is seeking to establish the clinic. A methadone clinic offers heroin addicts the drug methadone to curb opiate cravings as they try to end their reliance on heroin. Methadone maintenance has a higher rate of success than other programs now offered locally, Speagle said. [continues 300 words]
