PANEL OKs CLINIC RESTRICTIONS

INDIANAPOLIS -- Legislation to impose new restrictions on methadone
clinics, including a requirement that patients be tested for
marijuana and have a designated driver after appointments, cleared a
House committee yesterday.

The House Health Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 157, but
some members said they did so with reservations, particularly about
the driving provision added yesterday.

"I'm concerned we'll lose people in treatment who are riding a bus or
walking or don't have a designated driver," said Rep. Carolene Mays,
DIndianapolis.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, said he
asked the committee to add the provision because the federal Food and
Drug Administration puts methadone -- which is used to treat
addictions of heroin, OxyContin and other drugs -- in the same
classification as those medicines used for outpatient surgeries or procedures.

In those cases, hospitals or medical centers require designated drivers.

John Dattilo, who lives near the Southern Indiana Treatment Center,
which recently moved from downtown Jeffersonville to a site just
outside the city in Clark County, testified that he's concerned about
the safety of his family and others who are on the road with hundreds
of methadone users daily.

"It's all about safety to me," he said. "We need help. We do need to
put some restrictions on this."

But Tim Bohman, regional manager for CRC Health, which owns the
treatment center on Charlestown Pike, said patients have a high
tolerance for opiates and therefore can function normally after treatment.

The bill already has passed the Senate, although without the
designated-driver requirement. It would require the Indiana Family
and Social Services Administration to adopt new rules to regulate
clinics and require state approval for all patients who would receive
more than 14 take-home doses of the drug.

The House committee approved another amendment yesterday requiring
clinics to test patients for marijuana use.

Indiana's methadone clinics serve more than 10,000 patients annually,
with more than half coming from other states. Critics say that's
because Indiana has some of the loosest clinic regulations in the nation.

Neighboring states -- including Kentucky -- test for marijuana and
limit take-home doses, said Vicki Conlin of Jeffersonville, who had
an addicted relative who got methadone treatments.

The Clark County clinic is the state's second largest, serving nearly
2,000 patients in 2005. About two-thirds of those patients came from Kentucky.

Stemler said that's part of the reason for the bill -- to make sure
Indiana isn't attracting addicts from other places simply because its
regulations aren't strong enough.

But the committee did not act on a proposed amendment by Rep. Terry
Goodin, D-Crothersville, that would have banned patients from
bringing children to treatment centers.

Clark County Commissioner Michael Moore testified for the amendment.
He told the committee that too many of the clinic's patients have
their children with them when they come in early in the morning to
receive treatments.

Moore said many of those patients come to a restaurant he owns before
or after their appointments and often fall asleep or act erratically.

"This is the kind of behavior that would make most social-service
agencies jump in and act," Moore said.

But Rep. John Day, D-Indianapolis, said he was worried about a single
mother who might have to miss an appointment if she couldn't bring
her children.

"That's a very real dilemma," Day said.

Moore said that's a problem that the clinic should address.

Goodin withdrew the amendment because it did not have enough support
for approval but said he plans to offer a similar proposal later.