METHADONE HITS ROAD TO HELP AREA'S ADDICTS

Six days a week, Jeffrey Bilek battles morning traffic from Lynnwood to
Seattle for a single sip of salvation: 80 milligrams of methadone in a
plastic cup.

But beginning this week, the round trip that used to take 90 minutes takes
less than an hour.

Yesterday, Bilek drank his dose not at a downtown Seattle building, as
usual, but in a Winnebago Adventurer parked in North Seattle.

"I'm thrilled about it," said Bilek, a recovering heroin addict who has been
on methadone for a year. "Not only is it more convenient for me, but it
helps serve more people in the community."

Monday, King County's first mobile methadone van -- believed to be the third
in the nation -- rolled out with hopes of helping hundreds of addicts. The
van, run by Evergreen Treatment Services, can treat up to 350 people a day
and plans to make stops in North Seattle, Renton and the Eastside.

"This takes treatment to where people live. It makes it more approachable,"
said Ron Jackson, executive director at Evergreen, which contracts with the
county for services.

Last year, a record number of people -- 144 -- died from heroin overdose in
King County, where an estimated 12,000 to 18,000 people inject drugs,
according to health officials. Before the van's launch, people could only
get methadone at one of four clinics in Seattle and Federal Way.

Experts say the mobile services allow for more addicts to be treated,
without the stigma of a clinic.

"You can move in and out" and don't have "the NIMBY issues" of trying to
open a new treatment center, said Gloria Albetta, project director.

A three-year federal grant provides funding for the van, its three-member
crew and 12 months of treatment for 125 people.

Before dawn yesterday, a steady stream of people pulled up to the van, drank
their dose and headed to work. Inside are cups to collect urine samples, a
small exam room and a dispensing station, where methadone is locked in a
safe, protected by a guard -- even trackable by satellite.

King County is one of the few counties that provide methadone, and Jackson
said clients come from as far away as Whatcom, Kitsap and Skagit. Many, such
as Bilek, come daily from Snohomish County, where proposals to open a clinic
have faced much opposition over the years.

Before Bilek, 38, started methadone, he was a

16-year heroin addict. His need for the drug consumed every waking moment.
He stole; hocked cars, stereos and guns. He could no longer house his four
young children.

He bottomed out two years ago when he pawned a gold-and-onyx soldier's ring
his father received from his commander in the French Foreign Legion in
Algeria. It bought him a $75 high.

His father kept giving him money to buy back the cherished ring, but Bilek
always spent it on dope. "I did everything short of selling my own mother,"
he said.

He had done everything to quit: cold turkey; all kinds of detox programs,
jail stints. Nothing but methadone worked.

Two months ago, his father died. For the first time in many years, Bilek
stood by his father's bed -- sober.

"I was able to be there for him when I was clean," said Bilek, who picks up
occasional mechanic and upholstery jobs. "You can't imagine what a blessing
methadone is. It's like a new lease on life."

For more information on the mobile clinic, call Evergreen Treatment Services
at 206-223-3644.

P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or
vanessaho@seattle-pi.com