Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC) Copyright: 2001 The Spartanburg Herald-Journal Contact: http://www.goupstate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/977 Author: Baker Maultsby Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin) METHADONE REHAB CLINIC PROPOSED FOR COUNTY Spartanburg County planners and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control are reviewing proposals by private drug counseling companies that hope to open a methadone clinic in the county. South Carolina currently has six methadone centers, according to Larry Worley, director of the Piedmont Treatment Center, one of two such facilities in Greenville. Worley believes that as many as 125 patients drive from Spartanburg to Greenville each day for treatment. "We're quite sure there are several times as many who don't have ready, accessible treatment options," he said. Worley's company hopes to acquire a "certificate of need" from DHEC. The Spartanburg County Health Planning Commission is reviewing proposals by Worley and by Brent Brady, a Simpsonville resident who operates the Queen City Treatment Center in Charlotte, N.C. The board will make a recommendation to DHEC. Methadone is a legally prescribed, synthetic drug used to help people addicted to opiates. Most commonly known for its role in treating heroin addiction, methadone is also used by patients addicted to prescription opiates like Oxycontin, Worley said. Abuse of these opiates is still outpaced by illegal use of cocaine and marijuana, according to local experts in the law enforcement and counseling communities. But the problem of opiates appears to be growing in South Carolina, where the Legislature recently enacted strict laws regulating Oxycontin prescriptions. David Forrester, executive director of the Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, said his agency counseled 31 people for heroin addiction this past year and nearly four times that many for abuse of other opiates. Sheriff's Office statistics suggest that the problem of prescription opiate abuse is growing in Spartanburg County. Lt. Ron Gahagan said the Sheriff's Office saw 85 cases of illegal activity with hydrodone (the chemical in Lortab) in 1999, 134 cases in 2000 and 79 so far this year. Illegal use of oxycodone (the chemical in Oxycontin) is gaining ground: 11 cases were reported in 1999, 35 cases in 2000 and 51 cases have been reported this already year. Gahagan attributed the rise of oxycodone use to its higher potency. Meanwhile, cases involving heroin are still rare, according to Gahagan. "Heroin is more a coastal problem," he said. "In the Upstate, we don't see it very much." Methadone, too, can be addictive, experts say. But Worley says its use is commonly accepted in the scientific and counseling communities for several reasons. Unlike heroin and other opiates, methadone does not cause a high. Patients using the drug can attend work and function normally after taking the drug. And, because it is legal, methadone use can be regulated by professionals. That allows counselors to wean patients off drugs entirely without enduring the often unpleasant, sometimes dangerous affects of abrupt opiate withdrawal. The controlled setting of methadone treatment also is safer, proponents say, than buying drugs on the street and using dirty or disease-carrying needles. "(Methadone treatment) meets one drug with another, and that doesn't exactly fit our philosophy," said Forrester. "But it does reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis B." Brady and Worley say their clinics offer not only access to methadone, but also counseling and access to medical care. Both would charge patients $60 a week. Brady and Worley have something else in common: the challenge of finding a suitable location for a facility. The state requires that methadone clinics be at least 500 feet from churches, schools and residential property. Worley had looked at property near Hearon Circle. When he found out a church was located within 500 feet of the proposed site, Worley talked to church leaders. They offered their support, but DHEC would not grant an exception, Worley said. Brady, meanwhile, hoped to locate a clinic, to be named Spartanburg Treatment Associates, in the same vicinity. At a Tuesday meeting of the Health Planning Commission, representatives from nearby businesses voiced their disapproval. Brady is in the process of trying to find a different site. The men say the state's laws are too restrictive. "We couldn't even locate at the hospital because a neighborhood was too close by," Brady said. He and Worley say that public fears are unfounded. Methadone patients, they say, are not interested in getting high or committing crimes in order to get illegal drugs. "If that's what they wanted, they wouldn't be seeking treatment," Worley said. - --- MAP posted-by: Lou King