COUNCIL TO CONSIDER METHADONE REPORT; CRITICS SAY BANGOR UNPREPARED FOR CLINIC

BANGOR - City councilors tonight will consider the findings of a special
committee formed to study the effects of a proposed methadone clinic on the
city.

The Special Committee on Opiate Addiction issued its final report late last
month amid some criticism that its recommendations did little to delay the
opening of the controversial methadone clinic, which opponents contend will
bring an influx of drug addicts and drug-related crime.

Mayor John Rohman said late last week that he expected the council to back
the committee's findings that the clinic should open, but only after a
number of conditions have been met.

"I think the council has voiced its support of the committee every chance
it's had," Rohman said Friday. "What it comes down to is the ability to go
ahead [with the clinic] is not controlled by the council. It's controlled
by the state and Acadia [Hospital]."

Acadia Hospital applied to the state Office of Substance Abuse in February
to open the methadone clinic, which would provide treatment to those
addicted to heroin or other opiates such as prescription painkillers. State
substance abuse officials pointed to the region's rising drug problem as
the impetus for the clinic.

Like other opponents of the proposed clinic, Charlie Murray contends that
it would likely draw addicts from outside the city limits.

"You'd have to be number than a pounded thumb to believe these people won't
come to Bangor," Murray, a Bangor resident and member of Citizens Against
Heroin, said Saturday. "But if nothing else, we've made Acadia do their
homework, so even if we've lost, we've won."

News of the clinic sparked a sometimes-heated debate in the city, prompting
several public hearings and the formation of the opiate committee,
comprising three members each from the City Council and Acadia.

Among the conditions set forth by the committee is that a community
advisory group be established to oversee the program's operation. The
committee also suggested that the clinic not be licensed until hospital
officials decide on a location — a prerequisite for state and federal
licensing.

Acadia officials had proposed locating the clinic at the hospital's remote
Indiana Avenue facility, but later agreed to find a different, temporary
location after city representatives pressed for a more general medical
setting, such as the Eastern Maine Healthcare Mall on Union Street or
Acadia's main campus on Stillwater Avenue.

Hospital officials have not yet proposed a new site.

Acadia officials have estimated that once a location is found, a licensed
clinic could open within four to six months.

Local police as well as the state's top federal prosecutor have argued for
a longer delay, citing the need for additional drug agents to be in place
before a clinic be allowed to open.

In the argument for a moratorium, a report signed by the heads of five
local police departments cites the wording of a November referendum passed
by Bangor voters. In that referendum, residents voted 7,511 to 6,014 in
support of a delay until "local law enforcement has been given sufficient
time to address the issue of opiate addiction through enforcement actions
and education."

The opiate committee, while recommending — but having no control over —
more state funding for drug agents in the area, only tied the clinic's
opening to Acadia and local police coming up with a policy to share
information regarding drug-related crime.

Clinic supporters point out that state officials already have delayed the
clinic's opening by one year by agreeing not to issue a license until this
month.

City Councilor Patricia Blanchette, a member of the opiate committee, said
Saturday she opposed a further delay.

"Could you imagine saying to a heart patient that we could treat you, but
you're going to have to wait for two years?" said Blanchette, who stressed
that she favored a general medical setting for the clinic. "We have a
responsibility to these people who are here now."

The state's two other methadone clinics are located in Winslow and South
Portland.

Tonight's meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers.