CHAMPAIGN TO DISCUSS PROPOSED METHADONE CLINIC

A community forum to discuss a proposed methadone clinic in downtown
Champaign will be held at 7 p.m. on April 5 at the Champaign City Building.

"The forum is to educate the community about methadone maintenance and to
respond to questions and concerns about the proposed location," said
Kendric Speagle, senior in LAS and director of Harm Reduction Resource, the
not-for-profit group that is seeking to establish the clinic.

A methadone clinic offers heroin addicts the drug methadone to curb opiate
cravings as they try to end their reliance on heroin. Methadone maintenance
has a higher rate of success than other programs now offered locally,
Speagle said.

Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart will moderate the forum. The event will
begin with a presentation about methadone use and clinics. Along with
Speagle, Dan Biggs, ex-director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance and Chad
Hays, a Harm Reduction Resource director, will address concerns from the
audience and answer questions.

"We're anticipating a significant amount of disapproval," Speagle said.
"But the vast amount of that disapproval is based on misconceptions about
methadone maintenance. This forum is to dispel myths associated with
methadone maintenance and give community members the opportunity to express
concerns."

Speagle expects questions concerning the clinic's effect on the local crime
rate, the effectiveness of methadone treatment, and the fear that such a
clinic would attract patients from outside of Champaign County.

Because the area of the proposed clinic is zoned for such a use, the clinic
can be established regardless of community opinion, said Craig Rost, deputy
city manager for development in Champaign. While they do not necessarily
need community support, Harm Reduction Resource will need the approval of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and the State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse before
opening the clinic, Speagle said.

However, Speagle stressed that community support is necessary to the
success of the program.

"Community approval is important in order to provide quality patient care,"
Speagle said. "We (the clinic) will make myriad referrals to social service
providers throughout the community, which is one reason we must have
amicable relations with local service providers. Our patients need to be
understood by the community in which they live."

The forum is open to anyone interested in attending and is supported by
Harm Reduction Resource, the

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Champaign Mayor's Office.