Pubdate: Sat, 26 Feb 2005
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Roanoke Times
Contact:  http://www.roanoke.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368
Author: Laurence Hammack
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

METHADONE CLINIC APPEARS TO HAVE SILENCED CRITICS FOR NOW

However, most agree it's too early to tell for sure what effect the clinic
will have on the neighborhood.

At 5 a.m., the deserted parking lot of Roanoke's methadone clinic is
illuminated by security lights, a full moon and the occasional splash of
headlights from passing traffic on Hershberger Road.

5:35 a.m. - Clinic director Letitia Malone arrives to prepare for a 6 a.m.
opening.

5:45 a.m. - The first of about 10 cars to arrive over the next half-hour
pulls into the parking lot.

6:20 a.m. - A white car drives off, the first departure of the day.

7:25 a.m. - Malone steps outside for a cigarette break. The rush hour, so to
speak, is over. A few more patients will be in and out later for their daily
dose of methadone.

This, Malone said, is a routine day at the Roanoke Treatment Center, which
has drawn fierce opposition from nearby residents upset about an influx of
recovering drug addicts in their neighborhood. A lawsuit filed by opponents
last month calls the clinic a public nuisance.

Although a three-hour span from Wednesday offers just a snapshot, interviews
with neighbors and police also suggest that the methadone clinic has not
been the problem it was predicted to be - at least not in its first month of
full operation.

"I think we're providing a service. It's not having an adverse effect on the
community at all," said Joe Pritchard of CRC Health Group, the
California-based company that runs the clinic at 3208 Hershberger Road N.W.
"It's everything that we said it would be."

Data from the Roanoke Police Department seem to support that statement.

Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, police responded to seven calls to the clinic.
Four of them were burglar alarms accidentally set off by the staff.

The nearby Home Depot store, by comparison, accounted for 10 calls during
the same period.

Other than false alarms at the clinic, police have dealt with a trespassing
complaint, a wanted person on the premises while the clinic was closed, and
a report of someone harassing the security guard, according to police
spokeswoman Aisha Johnson.

Police are also investigating a vandalism incident. Sometime in late
December, white paint was splashed on the outside wall of the brick
building. It is not known whether the vandalism is related to opposition in
the community, where many people say they believe putting a methadone clinic
in a residential area will invite drug dealing, crime and traffic
congestion.

Clinic opponents have noted that three cars were broken into at nearby
Westside Elementary School during the last week of January. But according to
an e-mail from City Manager Darlene Burcham to Judy Ferguson, a concerned
citizen who inquired about the break-ins and other incidents near the
clinic, police suspect juveniles were involved. The clinic does not treat
juveniles, Pritchard said.

Most agree it's too early to tell for sure what effect the clinic will have
on the neighborhood.

But there has been an increase in police calls in the immediate area.

From Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, police responded to 25 calls in the 3100 to 3300
blocks of Hershberger Road. There were just 13 police calls last year for
the same area during the same time. However, the bulk of this year's calls
were for traffic offenses, domestic disturbances and other incidents
unrelated to the clinic.

"There is no direct correlation between the Roanoke Treatment Center and the
increase of calls for service for that immediate area," Johnson sai d.

The clinic opened at the first of the year for staff training and patient
assessment. On Jan. 25, it began dispensing methadone. The drug is given to
recovering drug addicts once a day to curb their cravings for opium-based
drugs such as heroin and OxyContin. Counseling, drug tests and other
services are also part of the treatment program.

At first, the clinic had about a dozen patients. Most were transfers from a
Galax clinic that is also owned by CRC. The Roanoke clinic is now treating
close to 40 people, Pritchard said. By year's end, there could be about 100
people enrolled.

Most of the patients arrive early in the morning on their way to work,
Pritchard said.

While new patients must report to the clinic every day, those who have been
in the program longer are allowed take-home doses. The methadone they take
home is the liquid form of the drug - not the pills that are usually
prescribed by doctors to treat pain and sometimes wind up for sale on the
street by drug abusers.

The clinic's security guards watch for trouble around the clock. When a
Roanoke Times reporter arrived unannounced at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday and
parked in the nearly empty lot, a guard inside the building quickly called
police to the scene.

Despite a quiet start, Ferguson and other residents are keeping a wary eye
on the clinic.

But they have decided not to wage protests or videotape the comings and
goings of patients, which was discussed last year when news of the clinic
first broke.

"We choose not to intimidate those who feel they need treatment at this time
because it is only a few people and they have really not disturbed the
community in the month's time that they have been open," Ferguson wrote in
an e-mail. "This I can promise: Once the clinic gets out of control we will
be demonstrating. We already have the signs made up."

Opponents, who have met frequently over the past few months, will hold
another open meeting at noon today at William Fleming High School.

Police in Galax and Tazewell County, where CRC also operates methadone
clinics, say they have found no major problems. But critics point to
different experiences elsewhere. In Washington, D.C., drug dealers brazenly
sell drugs in an area with several treatment centers, often approaching
recovering addicts who are there to seek help, according to a report from
the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

On Swarthmore Avenue, just down the hill from the Roanoke clinic, Della
Millner has been keeping a close watch out her kitchen window.

Things have been so quiet that Millner wonders if the clinic was needed. And
like many opponents, she questions why her predominantly black neighborhood
got stuck with the clinic when a proposal for one in Southwest Roanoke
County was defeated by strong community opposition.

"So I don't know why they need it up there in our back yard," Millner said.
"It's not fair for them to put it up there."

About a half-dozen neighbors interviewed this week could cite no trouble
caused by the clinic. But no one seemed ready to say their fears were
unfounded, either.

"Sometimes there's a quiet before there's a storm," said Naymon Mack Jr.,
who checks on the number of cars in the clinic parking lot every morning on
his way to work. "But as of right now, I don't see a problem."

"So far, so good," agreed Mack's neighbor Regenia Beatty. "But we'll be
watching it." 
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