Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News Contact: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608 Author: Rebecca Connop Price PHARMACY PLAN TO DISPENSE METHADONE HAS SOME RESIDENTS WORRIED Citizens concerned that new business could offer methadone, potentially boosting social problems A company's attempts to get a business licence for a pharmacy on Nicol Street has worried residents in the south end. Concerns have been raised that the pharmacy could attract drug addicts and former drug addicts to the area. The application, from Vancouver businessman Ziad Sultanali, was turned down by the City of Nanaimo because the desired location, 123 Nicol St., didn't have the required parking space. However, Sultanali said agents are looking at setting up a pharmacy at another location in Nanaimo. He denied that the pharmacy would be a "meth pharmacy." "That's not accurate," he said. He clarified the business's intentions in an e-mail, writing: "We could dispense addiction medications where prescribed however this is not the primary focus of our pharmacy." Methadone is often prescribed to drug addicts to help them become less dependent on more powerful, illegal substances such as heroin. Rumours were circulating in the south end that the pharmacy, were it to find a suitable location in the south end, could bring additional problems to the area. Debbie Graves, licensing clerk with the City of Nanaimo, said the city had a number of calls from residents. "A lot of people were phoning different people at the city to figure out what was going on. But we never got further than turning down the application. Until we hear back from (Sultanali), that's how it stands." Gord Fuller, the vice-chairman of the South-End Community Association, said that if the pharmacy had been approved, it would have been only a few blocks from another pharmacy that dispenses methadone. He said: "It would be simply ludicrous to have two open a block from each other." He said he didn't want to see a concentration of services in the area. "That's how we ended up with the Downtown Eastside (of Vancouver) ending up like that. It's the only place people can go, so they go there and they all congregate there." Sultanali, who also owns Metropolitan Pharmacy Ltd. on Fraser Street in Vancouver, said he was surprised that people were speculating about the application. In a statement, he said: "Our pharmacy on Vancouver Island is not slated to be purely a 'methadone pharmacy' like the ones that exist in Nanaimo. In B.C., all pharmacies are 'retail pharmacies' and services are regulated by professional practice policies." He added that services would be geared toward nursing homes, residential facilities and institutional clients. Sultanali said the company selected Nanaimo for its "natural beauty and proximity to Vancouver, as well as its geographic bearing on Vancouver Island." He said his agents would continue to work to find them a new location, and it didn't necessarily have to be the south end. His statement continued: "We are not attached to the south end of Nanaimo in any way other than we did like the proximity to the seaplane terminal." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom