PROPOSED METHADONE CLINIC NEAR SCHOOL

CHERRYFIELD - Discovery House, a for-profit drug treatment center
based in Rhode Island, plans to locate a new outpatient drug
treatment center just one-fifth of a mile from Cherryfield Elementary
School.

There is no state regulation that prevents the licensing of a
substance abuse treatment facility located near a school or day care
center.

The building that Discovery House intends to purchase and turn into a
facility for dispensing methadone is located along Route 182. From
that parking lot to the school at 85 School St., the driving distance
is 0.2 mile.

Kim Johnson, director of the state Office of Substance Abuse, said
Tuesday that, while there is no distance regulation in place with
respect to proposed clinics and schools, the Maine Legislature last
year passed a relevant resolve, one that is soon to become a regulation.

"Our office will do a needs assessment before licenses are given,"
she said, "to see if a community actually needs a clinic. We also
work with clinics and help them find the best locations."

John Sawyer, the Cherryfield school's principal, could not be reached
for comment on Tuesday.

Deb Stewart, superintendent for SAD 37 that includes Cherryfield,
said that she was aware of the potential location issue.

"Anytime we hear about this kind of situation, it raises concern,"
Stewart said, noting it is a situation that she will be watching.
"But it is a clinic, and there is supervision and therapy going on."

The public will get its chance to learn more about the clinic and its
plans tonight at the first informational meeting by Discovery House
representatives for area residents. The meeting takes place at 7 p.m.
at the town office's meeting room - which seats about 40 people.

The facility would be the second methadone clinic for Washington
County. Discovery House has operated a clinic in Calais since April
2005. That one currently serves more than 200 clients.

Discovery House operates 15 clinics in Maine, Rhode Island,
Pennsylvania and Utah. Its Maine clinics are in Calais, Waterville
and South Portland.

Daniel Walker, an attorney in Augusta with the Bernstein Shur Nelson
firm, represents Discovery House in its quest to open in Cherryfield.
He said that siting a Discovery House facility near schools is "not
unusual."

"In fact, there is a day care next door to Discovery House in South
Portland," he said.

According to Google's map service, Discovery House and the
Kinder-Play Preschool and Child Center are located less than a
half-mile apart on different streets.

"I don't even know where Discovery House is," an employee of
Kinder-Play said Tuesday, when asked if the day care was located next
door to the facility.

In Calais, the Discovery House at 12 Beech St. falls four-tenths of a
mile from Head Start-St. Croix on Garfield Street.

The Calais Middle School at 1 Washington St. is located nine-tenths
of a mile from the clinic.

In one of Discovery House's two facilities in Utah, a school is
located next door - 135 feet from the clinic's Salt Lake City
location. In the other facility in Orem, the clinic is one-fifth of a
mile from a day care center.

Those making the presentation for Discovery House tonight will be
Walker; Dan Mahoney, the management director at the South Portland
facility; and Rob Kronacki, Discovery House's development director
out of Providence, R.I.

Representatives of the Calais clinic will also be on hand for
explanations and answers.

The question of whether a school's proximity to an outpatient drug
treatment center is problematic draws a range of responses.

Jared Mowry of Cherryfield, a father of three boys, is pastor of the
Church of the Open Bible in Cherryfield. He has urged members of his
congregation to attend this evening's meeting.

"My biggest concern is for the community," Mowry said. "I don't agree
with the methadone clinics; it's a poor use of taxpayers' money.

"If they want to bring in an actual, residential rehabilitation
place, I'd be in favor of that. But what they're offering is getting
them off one drug, for another. [Users] are going from a street drug
to a clinical drug."

Rick Tanney of Lubec, a board member of the Washington County Drug
Action Team, said he is not bothered by Discovery House locating near
Cherryfield Elementary.

"These people, the clients, aren't dangerous," Tanney said. "They are
just going to get their medication. And by agreement with Discovery
House, they have to leave. They can't hang around.

"I personally don't see a problem with it."

Walker said he and Kronacki have had conversations with, or left
messages for, all selectmen and the planning board chairwoman. He
said that negative responses have been "few."

Permission from town officials is not needed for a substance abuse
clinic to go into a neighborhood, Walker said, just licensing from
the state Office of Substance Abuse.

Kronacki's run-through of ZIP codes of Discovery House clients in
Calais showed that a sizable number were driving daily from points in
western Washington County.

Kronacki considered locating a second Discovery House for Washington
County in Machias, and even addressed the board of directors of Down
East Community Hospital earlier this year.

But an ideal location within Machias was not available, he said last
week, and the Cherryfield location surfaced as a more logical
alternative.

Walker called Discovery House clients "people looking to get
healed."

"They are not the problem," he said. "They are really trying to make
their lives better.

"If a community really has a problem with this [locating near a
school], Discovery House could make agreements with clients in their
treatment plans that they cannot go within a certain distance of a
school."

Rep. Eddie DuGay, D-Cherryfield, is a supporter of bringing Discovery
House to his hometown. In addition to providing substance abuse
treatment and counseling options, the facility represents "economic
development," he said.

A Discovery House in Cherryfield could provide as many as 10 jobs,
between positions for medical director, pharmacist, nurses,
counselors and administrative staff.