METHADONE CLINIC GETS INITIAL OK FROM W. VA.

A Maryland company has cleared the first hurdle in its bid to open a
methadone clinic in Martinsburg, W.Va., to treat heroin and other narcotics
addicts.

Martinsburg's mayor supports the move. The city's police chief opposes it.
Neither had heard of the planned clinic before a reporter told them
Thursday evening.

The Martinsburg Institute of Wheaton, Md., cited a need for the clinic to
help addicts in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle because the company's
Frederick, Md., facility treats 88 patients from Berkeley, Jefferson and
Morgan counties, according to the West Virginia Health Care Authority's
Aug. 1 opinion granting the company a "certificate of need."

Washington County Health Officer William Christoffel said this week that
most clients of a methadone clinic in Hagerstown are from West Virginia.

The clinic in Hagerstown opened in May amid opposition from city and county
officials. One critic was Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith, who said
cocaine is a much bigger problem than heroin in Washington County and
suggested that the clinic could attract more crime.

This week, Hagerstown's Mayor and City Council discussed how to prevent the
methadone clinic, which has a temporary license, from receiving a regular
operating license in the fall.

Methadone is a narcotic that helps lessen the addiction to heroin and other
opiates.

Martinsburg Police Chief Ted Anderson said he feels the same way Smith does
about a methadone clinic.

"I really don't feel that the City of Martinsburg or Berkeley County has
that substantial a (heroin) problem," he said. "You'd want to place this in
a place where there's a definite need for it. ... Cocaine and marijuana are
still the prevalent drugs here."

Asked if he supports the proposed clinic, Martinsburg Mayor George Karos
said, "I certainly do."

"I don't think this community is any different from any community. We have
our drug problems. ... Any city this size needs a detox center," he said,
naming heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs such as the pain reliever
OxyContin as among those often abused.

A certificate of need is the first step in West Virginia's review process
for drug treatment clinics. West Virginia now has only one licensed
methadone clinic - in Charleston - according to the West Virginia Health
Facilities, Licensure and Certification office.

Two proposed clinics, in Martinsburg and Clarksburg, have received
certificates of need, but have not yet been licensed, according to an
employee who said she processed the applications but did not want to be named.

A man who answered the telephone at the number listed for the Martinsburg
Institute said employees there have been told not to comment about the
proposed Martinsburg clinic. A call to the president of the company, Neal
Berch, was not returned.

Other Martinsburg and Berkeley County officials expressed surprise at the
news that the state had approved the first step toward the opening of a clinic.

"No one's ever discussed it with me," said Berkeley County Sheriff W. Randy
Smith.

Smith said heroin use is rising in Berkeley County, but "I don't think it's
out of control in proportion to any of the other things going on."

He said officials in West Virginia and nationwide have been concerned about
abuse of OxyContin, which officials have linked to a number of deaths.

Berkeley County Commissioner Robert L. Burkhart said he had not heard of
plans for the clinic.

"I know nothing about it," Burkhart said. He said he believed such a
facility could be subject to zoning laws if it were within the City of
Martinsburg or two other county areas that have zoning. There are no
countywide zoning laws in Berkeley County.

Martinsburg City Hospital spokeswoman Vicque Charrette said hospital
officials were not aware of plans for a clinic.

The location for a clinic has not been identified yet, according to the
Health Care Authority's written opinion. Martinsburg Institute plans to
find and lease a 2,000-square-foot facility, the document said.

According to the opinion, the steps to certify and open a methadone clinic
are: Find a location; get a lease; renovate the space; develop a policy and
procedure manual; get federal Drug Enforcement Administration approval;
hire staff; obtain a behavioral health license; and "initiate services."

It was unclear Thursday whether local approval is necessary.

The Charleston clinic went into operation Dec. 1, 2000, after a process
that took nine months, according to the West Virginia Health Facilities,
Licensure and Certification employee who processed the application.

In its opinion, the Health Care Authority determined there was a need for
such a treatment facility in Martinsburg. The opinion estimates that the
area including West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, Washington County, and
Clarke and Frederick counties in Virginia has an "unmet need" to treat
1,148 drug abuse patients, 124 of them for narcotics abuse.