Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2004 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Rex Bowman Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) LEE GROUP WANTS REHAB WITHOUT METHADONE It's working to open a treatment center that doesn't rely on methadone Hoping to put a dent in the widespread drug abuse that has plagued far Southwest Virginia for nearly a decade, a private group in Lee County is working to open an addiction-treatment center that does not rely on methadone. Public resistance to methadone-oriented treatment has stalled the approval of centers in other parts of the state and even prompted the General Assembly to pass legislation this year limiting the places where methadone can be dispensed. But proponents of the proposed 40-bed New Beginnings center in Lee have won local support and avoided the controversy surrounding methadone by assuring the public that the center's long-term treatment regimen relies not on alternative drugs, but on therapy. "They don't want methadone down here," summed up Nancy Hobbs, a member of New Beginnings' governing board. The center, to be located in the community of Dryden, halfway between Jonesville and Big Stone Gap, will serve clients from Lee and 19 surrounding counties in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The area, generally known as central Appalachia, has been especially hard hit by an epidemic of prescription-painkiller abuse, in particular OxyContin. In some Southwest Virginia counties, the crime rate has doubled and even tripled in the past five years as abusers rob and steal in order to pay for the painkillers. The crisis has led to crowded jails, overflowing courts and understaffed sheriff's departments. Larry Lavender, executive director of New Beginnings, said the center's organizers hope it will "set the tone" for other localities trying to come to grips with the area's drug problems. The center will hold patients for at least three months and possibly as long as 18 months to help them overcome their addictions. According to one study published last year, long-term treatment programs are highly effective in reducing the illicit use of drugs. Lavender said the New Beginnings center, organized by the nonprofit Lee Coalition for Health, will have a $500,000 annual budget and a staff of 14, including nine therapists. Lavender said he plans to file the paperwork for state approval next week, and organizers hope to open the facility by spring. If approved, New Beginnings would be the only non-methadone long-term treatment center in Southwest Virginia. Centers in Galax and Tazewell prescribe methadone to recovering addicts. Proposed treatment centers that rely on methadone have met widespread opposition from those who fear that handing out methadone would attract addicts and crime to their neighborhoods. Outcry over a proposed treatment center in Roanoke County prompted the General Assembly this year to bar clinics from within a half-mile of schools and day-care centers. The New Beginnings treatment center is financed by donations and grants, but Lavender said he hopes to win federal support as well. Hobbs said the center also will rely on payment from patients and their insurance companies, but no one will be turned away for being unable to pay. The center will be located in a 4-acre nursing home that closed several years ago. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh