METHADONE CLINICS TREATING HUNDREDS AROUND AREA

Directors Say Outpatient Facilities Having Positive Effect On Community

CUMBERLAND --- Nearly three years after opening its methadone clinic,
the Allegany County Health Department treats 70 to 75 patients.

"Sixty-nine percent of our patients are in the 20-to-39 age bracket.
Our population tends to come from lower-income population, including
employed, unemployed, disabled. We have quite a mix, with half of
them female and half male," said Jim Brenneman, director of
outpatient addiction services.

The clinic operates six days each week for dosing, and patients can
earn take-home doses by being free of illicit drugs and attending
treatment counseling appointments.

"By and large, the program has gone very well. I shared some of the
apprehension of the community when it first started," said Brenneman,
who began his career in 1984.

"I can see how we are providing help, and it's a viable program. My
impression is that the number of heroin-or opiate-related arrests and
deaths locally have dropped. Whether or not that is due to the
presence of our opiate-based treatment programs I can't say. But it
appears these kinds of incidents have decreased,"

The program has a waiting list of 15 people seeking to enroll in it.

For many years, there was no significant opiate problem in the community.

"That number, however, skyrocketed in 2003 and 2004. We had to
re-think and re-do our treatment approach. The outpatient treatment
models we were using were not effective and so we had to take that
into consideration and adapt our strategies," said Brenneman.

Methadone treatment, he said, is not used only for heroin addiction.
"Half of the people in our treatment program are here primarily
because of problems with prescription opiates.

"These are people who, over time, have become addicted to
prescription medicines. It's important for the public to understand
that this program is not only for the stereotypical heroin-injecting drug user.

"I don't think people understand the addictive features of these pain
medications. People need to be cautious and aware of the possible
side effects," said Brenneman.

Discussions are continuing by Dr. Sue Raver, Allegany County health
officer; the department's Substantive Abuse Prevention Unit;
Brenneman; and other health department officials to find ways to
"increase public awareness to the dangers of prescription medicine
drug abuse," he said.

In LaVale, approximately 150 people are patients at the Cumberland
Treatment Center Inc. on National Highway, with about 60 percent of
those suffering from heroin or other opiate-based addictions. As one
of 60 such treatment centers operated nationwide by CRC Health Group
Inc., the facility can handle up to 300 patients.

A staff of 10 people, led by clinic director Bill Dick, operates the
facility six days a week since it opened in July 2006. Although it
may be thought of as a methadone clinic, Dick stresses that it is not that.

"We use methadone as a tool to treat opiate-addicted patients as well
as suboxone in treatment to addictions ranging from heroin to pain
pills. We also treat alcoholic patients and drugs associated with
that addiction," said Dick.

"Most people look down on methadone because it is an addictive drug
also. But what we have here is a maintenance-to-abstinence program.
We use methadone to stabilize them. When they come in, they are sick
and down and out. Some can't seem to get better without a stabilizing
drug such as methadone," he said.

Patients get involved in individual, family and group counseling to
help them become motivated to overcome their addictions. They enroll
in 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics
Anonymous as part of their support system.

"The longer a person stays in treatment, the more successful they are
in overcoming their addiction. Addiction is a lifelong disease," said Dick.

Studies show, Dick said, that there is an 80-percent success rate for
people enrolled in maintenance drug-based program more than 11
months. Typically, after 12 months of treatment, patients use the
next six months for detoxification, with drug dosing gradually
reduced down to nothing. Those patients then remain in counseling for
six months.

"Usually during this process, a person has gotten a job, support of
their family and they become a whole person. They didn't want to
become addicted in the first place and then they become a productive
person and an asset to themselves, their family and to society," said Dick.

The treatment center works closely with primary-care physicians,
families, the court system, Department of Parole and Probation and
mental health facilities to coordinate treatment programs to ensure
that patients are receiving optimal care.

A monitoring program and urinalysis, with every patient tested
randomly at least once a month, are part of the treatment. Patients
given take-home doses may be called to bring back the next-day dose
to verify compliance with program guidelines and requirements.

"We do a lot of good and I think we save lives. We're doing a big
part in helping to keep crime down. We are helping individuals and
families. We've never had any negative feedback from the community," said Dick.

Patients are charged $12 per day for treatment, physical examination,
weekly checks by treatment center physician and weekly counseling.

Any patients unable to comply with the prescribed program are
referred to either intensive out-patient treatment or entering an
in-patient program.

"Addiction is the degradation of our society," said Dick.

In Cumberland, there are 130 clients being treated at Western
Maryland Recovery Services on Bedford Road for all types of opiate
addictions, according to Herb Howard, program sponsor.

"Our clients come from all age groups, all segments of society and
some are multigenerational," said Lezlie Reinhart, program director.

Howard believes his treatment center is contributing to the community
in a positive way.

"I think we have made a difference. We're helping to reduce crime by
helping people to deal with their addictions. We make their
addictions and their lives manageable," said Howard, who also
operates a treatment center in Montgomery County.

Both Howard and Reinhart detailed positive results of their program,
including a local man who overcame his addiction to
physician-prescribed pain medication.

"He was here for two years. He came here thinking he could do this in
two months. There was nothing that made him happy.

"Two years later, he has gained weight, he is feeling good and
feeling productive. He has also made lifestyle changes to reduce his
pain and he has taken a holistic view of his life," said Howard, who
noted that addiction is "very indiscriminate."

"Ten percent of the population can be addicted to some kind of drug,"
said Howard.

Reinhart said eating healthy and exercise are vital to good health.

"Feeling good is part of recovery, eating right is part of recovery,
exercise is part of recovery. We are rebuilding the whole person,"
said Reinhart. "When people come in here, they are trying to get a
second chance. Not all of us get that."

Howard added, "It takes time to get messed up and it takes time to
get cleaned up. But it's possible."