Pubdate: Sun, 07 Mar 2004 Source: Roanoke Times (VA) Copyright: 2004 Roanoke Times Contact: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368 Author: Jeff Artis Note: Artis is chairman of the Roanoke Southern Christian Leadership Conference. PUT THE METHADONE CLINIC AT THE VA MEDICAL CENTER Whenever an unpopular community issue is resolved, someone is going to be unhappy. So goes the issue of placing a methadone clinic in the Roanoke Valley. As of now, the methadone clinic is scheduled to open on Hershberger Road in the next few months. Those of us in the Northwest community who are against this location have given a number of legitimate reasons why placing the clinic at the Hershberger Road location is a train wreck waiting to happen. As we have said before, we are not against methadone clinics. We are against the location of this one. The central issue of our concerns is our children - our children who have to go to school next to a methadone clinic and the children who will be negatively impacted by a methadone clinic being placed in Northwest Roanoke. Also, let's be honest. At the site on Hershberger Road, it's only a matter of time before the methadone administered at the clinic will end up being sold on the street, probably just a few blocks down the road from the clinic site. And who will be selling this new product? Our children. Middle school- and high school-aged drug dealers, yes, but they are still our children. There are no age limitations in joining the VH1 or LTP gangs or in selling drugs on the street to make money. In the drug dealing business, the younger the dealer, the better. Younger drug dealers aren't noticed as much by the police. They also don't do as much time in jail as older drug dealers. There are other concerns we have that we have talked about at length. However, our No. 1 concern about the Hershberger Road site is the negative effect on our children. So, what is the solution? Is there a place where this clinic can go that is advantageous to all parties involved? Is there a place in the Roanoke Valley for this clinic that is away from our schools, away from our children, away from residential areas, away from business areas, that is secure and can provide safe methadone treatment to those who need it? Yes, there is. That place is the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem. Without the stereotypes and without the NIMBY mentality, let's look objectively at this solution to the methadone clinic problem. Methadone clinics, serving both veterans and nonveterans, at VA hospitals are nothing new. It has worked at other locations in the country. If this setup can work in other parts of the country to the satisfaction of all parties involved, why can't it work in Roanoke? More so than any other site in the Roanoke Valley, it's away from our schools and our children. There is better security at the VA site than at the Hershberger Road site. Because of federal guidelines, the clinic will have to run a tighter ship at the VA site than at the Hershberger Road site. There isn't a gang influence to worry about at the VA. It's away from residential areas. It's away from business areas. The VA can make money off the clinic through the Enhanced Use Lease program. With federal cutbacks coming, and they are coming, the Salem VA would be able to point to its methadone program as a way to insulate itself from any talk of having the facility closed. With the vastness of the VA grounds, the clinic can be placed away from the main facilities. The site is on existing public transportation routes. It's easily accessible to those using private transportation. It can handle the expected traffic from the clinic better than the Hershberger Road site. Any liability questions can be worked out by all of the parties involved. By using the VA site, any illegal sale of methadone in the community could fall under both state and federal law enforcement jurisdictions, a further deterrent to the plans the VH1 and LTP gangs have for selling methadone. I am not attempting to dump this clinic into the laps of our veterans or the good people at the VA. The very reason I am able to write my opinion is because of the efforts of our veterans: my father who served in Vietnam, my sister who served in the former Yugoslavia and my brother currently serving in Iraq. I have nothing but respect for those involved with the VA. I certainly understand their concerns. However, in the methadone clinic issue, there are more cons than pros for placing the clinic at a site in Roanoke County. There are more cons than pros for placing the clinic on Hershberger Road. At the VA Medical Center in Salem, there are more pros than cons for placing it there. In the controversy involving the methadone clinic, the VA Medical Center represents the best solution for everyone involved. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart