KING COUNTY TO EXPAND METHADONE TREATMENT

Methadone treatment will be available for nearly 1,000 additional heroin
addicts under a provision passed by the Metropolitan King County Council.
The council, in a unanimous vote yesterday, took a major step toward
dealing with the county's heroin-use problem by increasing the number of
licensed methadone-treatment slots by more than 50 percent.

"It's good news. We've made some progress in making this a clean, sober and
safe community," said Councilman Greg Nickels, who also is chairman of the
King County Board of Health.

The health board strongly recommended the action last May after a record
144 heroin-related deaths were reported in King County during 1998. Only
108 deaths have been reported for 1999. But county health officials still
consider local heroin use a public-health crisis.

The number of annual deaths more than doubled during the 1990s. Health
authorities worry about the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through dirty
needles. More than 80 percent of King County addicts are infected with
hepatitis C and about 4 percent carry the AIDS virus.

Yesterday's legislation increases the number of licensed treatment slots
from 2,100 to 3,150. Three privately run clinics now have 700 clients apiece.

Health officials estimate there are 8,000 to 10,000 heroin users in King
County. About 675 are now on the waiting list for treatment. Boosting
public Medicaid funding for treatment would increase the demand to as many
as 1,750, experts said.

"Frankly, I think passage of this ordinance is life-saving," said Larry
Gossett, chairman of the council's Law, Justice and Human Services
Committee, which recommended the action. Gossett also is a Board of Health
member.

An amendment to the new legislation by Councilman Chris Vance limits the
new treatment slots to the three private clinics that now operate
facilities in Seattle and King County: Evergreen Treatment Services,
Therapeutic Health Services and Federal Way Clinic.

Another amendment by Councilman Kent Pullen allows for exploring
alternative treatments to methadone.

Treatment with methadone, a heroin substitute, allows addicts to return to
work and lead relatively normal lives.

Tom Davies, 48, of Auburn told the council that taking methadone the past
two years has enabled him to return to work as a furnace repairman, as well
as become a more responsible father and husband for his family of five.
Before getting treatment at the Federal Way Clinic, he said he worked only
sporadically and often stole to support his $1,000-a-week habit.

"It's hard for me to understand why it should be so difficult for people to
get treatment," he told the council, referring to some public opposition to
increasing treatment.

"There's nothing really weird going on at the clinic. People come, people
go. It looks like people going in and out of a 7-Eleven."

A recent report by the state Department of Social and Health Services cited
studies showing significant drops in crime and the use of other medical
services as a result of methadone programs.

The National Institutes of Health and the Office of National Drug Control
Policy also have recommended methadone as a treatment for addicts.

Meanwhile, the county Board of Health has asked state health officials to
seek ways to allow private physicians to prescribe methadone. A bill
allowing such distribution passed the state Senate last year but never was
considered by the House.