HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: text/html
Pubdate: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 Source: Roanoke Times (VA) Copyright: 2003 Roanoke Times Contact: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) END THE COMMUTE FOR RECOVERING ADDICTS With the planned opening of a methadone clinic in Roanoke County, more area residents will be able to get treatment. INSTEAD of traveling 100 miles to Galax or 120 miles to Charlottesville for treatment, recovering drug addicts in the Roanoke Valley need help closer to home. A plan by Life Center of Galax to open a satellite methadone clinic in Southwest Roanoke County is a sensible solution to eliminating the lengthy commute for addicts of opium-based drugs trying to turn their lives around. Because the Roanoke area is the urban center of Southwest Virginia, situating a treatment facility here will provide easier access for more of those needing help in the region. About 70 patients from the Roanoke Valley are now enrolled in Life Center's program in Galax. Officials have received calls from as many as 100 others unable to begin treatment because they cannot make the daily visits, which the program initially requires. Once the clinic is fully operational, Life Center expects 200 to 300 patients to regularly visit the Roanoke County site. The opening of a methadone clinic often raises concerns among neighbors. But the experience of the Galax clinic indicates that many of those fears are misplaced. Authorities have said the clinic did not produce an unusually large number of calls to police. Residents primarily complained about heavy traffic early in the morning when patients arrive to get the methadone before heading to work. That worry should be diminished in Roanoke County because the building is the former site of a family medical clinic. Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that eases the recovering addicts' withdrawal symptoms and reduces the craving for opium-based drugs such as OxyContin and heroin. By relieving their symptoms, patients can hold jobs as they undergo treatment. The Roanoke Valley should support an effort providing convenience for addicts trying to resume their place as healthy and contributing members in the community. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh