FORUM SET TO DISCUSS METHADONE FACILITY

CHAMPAIGN Residents can learn more about methadone maintenance
therapy and a proposed treatment facility for downtown Champaign on
Thursday.

The Illinois Region 6 HIV Prevention Implementation Group, which
provides HIV prevention services for a 24-county area, is sponsoring
an educational symposium on reducing the spread of HIV and hepatitis
in injecting drug users. The symposium includes information about
methadone, which is used to treat heroin addiction.

Kendric Speagle, who operates Harm Reduction Resource, a nonprofit
organization offering HIV education and prevention services, has
proposed opening a methadone treatment facility at 12 W. Washington
St. in downtown Champaign. Some downtown business owners and
residents of the nearby Sesquicentennial Neighborhood have objected
to the location of the clinic there because they are worried about
increased crime and too many social service agencies saturating the
area.

A separate community forum sponsored by the city of Champaign will be
held Thursday evening and will include a presentation from Speagle
and an opportunity for residents to voice their concerns.

Julie Pryde, program director for the Region 6 group, said she hopes
the symposium will alleviate some of those concerns by providing
residents with more information about methadone treatment.

"I think when some of their concerns are addressed, they won't be
quite so nervous about this," she said. "The concerns I'm hearing
expressed are based on misconceptions. They don't have these issues
in Kankakee, they don't have these issues in Decatur (which both have
methadone clinics). I've been there."

The symposium will be held at the Illinois Terminal, 45 E. University
Ave., C., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $25 for those registering
in advance or $40 at the door. Pryde said scholarships are available
for those who are not connected with an agency but who want to
attend. To register, contact Pryde at 352-8486, extension 196.

The morning sessions will include information about the impact of
injection drug use on HIV and hepatitis from Illinois Department of
Public Health officials, and about efforts to allow the purchase of
syringes over the counter. An MSNBC special report on drug use will
be shown during lunch.

In the afternoon, Dr. Sarz Maxwell of the Center for Addictive
Problems, a Chicago methadone clinic, will discuss methadone therapy.
Maxwell is an addictions psychiatrist who treats addicts and
researches, writes and lectures extensively about addiction. The
afternoon will also include a discussion of syringe exchange programs.

Herb DeLaney, president and chief executive officer of the Duane Dean
Behavioral Health Center in Kankakee, will talk about the methadone
treatment program there and how it exists in the community.

Pryde said her organization holds a symposium once a year to provide
training aimed at reaching those at risk of contracting HIV. The
symposium provides continuing education credits for nurses, addiction
counselors and social workers.

This year, Pryde said she has tried to advertise the symposium to a
wider audience and has reserved a larger space because of the
controversy over Speagle's proposal for a methadone clinic in
Champaign. She said almost 40 people had registered for the symposium
by the end of last week, but most were health professionals. She said
she was disappointed more community members had not yet registered to
attend.

The symposium was scheduled to coincide with the city of Champaign's
community forum on the proposed methadone clinic. The forum will
begin at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 102 N. Neil St.

The forum will include a presentation from Speagle about the proposed
methadone treatment facility. Residents and community organizations
will then be able to voice their concerns about the proposal. A
question-and-answer session will follow.