METHADONE CLINICS - SERVING THE PUBLIC GOOD?

A mother has a son who is addicted to drugs.

She comes home one night and her TV is gone.

The next day her jewelry is missing and she is forced to put a lock on
her door.

"She can't throw him out on the street because it's her flesh and
blood. Where do they turn to? They have no one," says Dr. Clement Sun,
the medical director of the Addiction Centre Toronto (ACT) on
Charlotte Street in Peterborough.

He says the clinic gives those suffering in society a second chance.
This is often lost in the perception that all who attend methadone
clinics are drug addicts who come from the wrong side of the tracks,
he says.

At Monday's Planning Committee meeting, councillors approved a
recommendation by staff that the zoning for a methadone clinic is the
same as the zoning for any other type of clinic, such as a doctor's
clinic or a physiotherapy clinic.

Councillor Dean Pappas said that earlier that day, while opening up
his pool hall, he was "bombarded" with phone calls about people
concerned about methadone clinics. He also says he received many
e-mails on the weekend amd notes one of the concerns expressed from
the people who contacted him is the perception associated with a
methadone clinic.

"I don't want to come off here as the anti-methadone guy because I
know we need it. We need to get these people off drugs, we need to
help them."

Councillors supported a motion asking staff to review where the zoning
districts for any type of clinic, not just methadone clinics, are
located in the city, along with asking for a report from the health
unit on methadone treatment.

But Coun. Ann Farquharson was against the motion.

"We are here as a planning committee. We're here to deal with planning
issue. I think this report made it quite clear what the situation is.
A clinic is a clinic is a clinic. It's doesn't matter if it's treating
cancer patients or it's treating those addicted to drugs, or AIDS or
anything else," she says.

Coun. Farquharson says they are thrilled a new medical clinic is
opening up in the former Zellers building at Simcoe and George streets.

"We want more doctors and physicians in this city. We don't want
less," she says.

"We don't want to limit where clinics can go."

Coun. Patti Peeters was very shook-up by the discussion.

"Drugs have played a part in my family by more than one person," she
told her fellow councillors.

"Drugs are a devastating part of a person's family, they can destroy
it...i want everyone to be aware we have a responsibility."

Coun. Peeters says it is a very serious subject and methadone
treatment clinics are imperative. She calls comments from some of
people who called her "unforgivable."

"I not now or not ever will shuffle anyone out of the downtown core or
any place because of the treatment they require," she says.

Dr. Sun's mother-and-son example is quite common in cities, even in
Peterborough, he says, and sometimes methadone treatment can be part
of the road to sobriety.

While some members of the community are fearful what ACT and the other
three clinics in the City - on Burnham, Simcoe and Sherbrooke streets
- - are offering to addicts, Dr. Sun says there is a negative
connotation as to who is using the service.

"We open our door to help these people. It's not the drug addict that
is the victim, it's society that is the victim," he says, adding the
majority of people at his clinic are addicted to prescription drugs,
namely Oxycodone and Percocet.

"Most people think that we're dealing with heroine addicts," he
explains, adding the rise in prescription drug addiction is a
difficult issue for doctors to combat.

"The problem we've had in Peterborough is the doctors don't know who
the addicts are. Any one of us could be in that situation. These are
not people who are out to get high."

He says methadone is used as a tool to deal with pain. It is used to
eventually ween people off of the drug they are addicted to.

Despite concerns from his neighbours, Dr. Sun says 80 per cent of his
clients are good citizens wanting to get off drugs.

"They are there not because they want to cause trouble. It's a
misunderstanding. We're doing everything we can to get them inside.
Our neighbours are spreading a different picture. We've tried our best
to reassure them."

He says he welcomes discussion with City Council about his clinic and
its servics. Whether or not his clinic is zoned as a medical clinic he
still operates as such he says.

"You will think it is a medical clinic. It's clean like a medical
clinic. People are treated with respect," he says, adding the use of
methadone is simply one method.

"It's the same as saying you can have a clinic without using
Penicillin. It's only one tool."

ACT also provides counselling services, which are sometimes more
effective, he says.

"Our results are from counselling. Our success is not that we do
anything magical or that we drug them. We give the patient
confidence."

He says the stigma surrounding his clinic and others in the city needs
to be addressed.

"This is where communication is the answer. How many more people need
our help but are afraid because of the stigma. Through communication
we'll resolve a lot of issues."