TO MAKE NEW LIVES

Clinic In Plains Twp. Friend To Heroin Addicts

PLAINS TWP. - Christy, 23, is a single, working mother raising a
3-year-old daughter.

Maria, 35, is married, balancing a full-time job and a
family.

Both are recovering heroin addicts who are undergoing treatment at the
region's only methadone clinic in Plains Township.

And both have remained off drugs since they've been put on methadone -
a synthetic drug used to block withdrawal and eliminate opiate
prescription painkiller and heroin dependency.

Their stories coincide with a recent study that shows the 4-year-old
clinic run by Wyoming Valley Health Care System is working.

The Times Leader agreed not to use clients' last names for
confidentiality reasons.

The majority of the clients at the Choices Recovery Program's
methadone clinic on Laird Street - nearly 63 percent - had been
drug-free for the minimum of six months at the time of the survey,
according to the outcome study conducted by professor Edward Pabon of
Marywood University in Scranton.

Nearly 80 percent of those recovering opioid addicts have remained
clean for at least one year, according to "Decreasing Relapse,"
Pabon's study.

Pabon, who released the results in September, said this finding was
the most impressive in his research.

"The fact they were able to maintain themselves drug-free while in the
program was remarkable," he said.

The clinic is the only facility in Northeastern Pennsylvania that
administers methadone, which is one approach to helping heroin and
opioid addicts kick their habits. The next closest clinic is about a
65-mile drive away in the Allentown area.

Methadone is one of two drugs to treat opioid addiction. Suboxone, a
buprenorphine also used to treat withdrawal and dependency to heroin
and painkiller pills, can be prescribed by certified doctors and
treatment programs.

Experts say the area's growing heroin problem, combined with an
increase in prescription painkiller abuse, is keeping the clinic at
full capacity with a never-ending waiting list.

And, since federal and state regulations give pregnant women priority
for methadone treatment, the Choices clinic has a large number of
female clients.

Forty women at the clinic have delivered healthy babies in the past
year in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, according to Sandy Ancas, a
clinical supervisor of the recovery program. Methadone is safer for
opioid-dependant pregnant mothers, she said.

Both Christy and Maria gave birth to healthy babies while undergoing
methadone treatment - and most of the clinic's population is either
pregnant or has already given birth.

The clinic has a capacity of 190, but is one over the limit. There is
list of about 20 people still trying to get into the clinic.

Other facilities, such as Serento Gardens Alcoholism & Drug Services
in Hazleton, treat heroin addicts, but Choices is the only clinic that
administers methadone.

Another way of dealing with heroin addiction is Suboxone, which has
fewer symptoms of withdrawal and is less addictive than methadone,
according to Edward A. Pane, president of Serento Gardens.

Pane said licensed physicians who receive training can prescribe
Suboxone from their offices, which gives opioid addicts another option
to treatment.

Methadone is highly addictive, so addicts are encouraged to try other
treatments first, said Mary Martin, director of the methadone clinic.

"Methadone is for the hard-core drug addict - the ones that are near
death," Martin said. "We tell people we want them to try traditional
forms of treatment first. They have to have failed at other venues of
treatment in order for us to accept them into the methadone clinic."

Unless they are pregnant, Martin said.

"We place all pregnant women that come to us on methadone," she
said.

Methadone is safer for opioid-dependant mothers delivering babies in
comparison to other treatments such as detoxification or Suboxone,
according to Martin.

Clinic could use more slots

But, the number of local people seeking help for their drug problems
exceeds the number of slots at the methadone clinic.

So some addicts, like 45-year-old Michelle, who is now recovering,
said she relapsed several times while waiting to get into a treatment
program. She said she had to keep using heroin because she didn't want
to get sick.

Michelle participated in last month's WVIA-TV State of Pennsylvania
program, "NEPA's Heroin Highway."

"The drug talks to you," said Pane who also spoke on the show. "It's
like a friend, a spouse - it's a relationship."

Michelle, who was addicted to heroin for more than 30 years, has been
clean since 2003.

She said it took a lot of support and counseling for her to overcome
her addiction. She never had the option of methadone treatment since
the clinic opened one year later.

"You have to want to quit," she said.

Counseling is a part of the recovery process but it's often difficult,
as Christy can attest.

She says the methadone has helped, but the counseling was hard at
first.

"I wouldn't open up," she said.

Ancas made it all clear.

"People with addictions do not trust," she said. "It takes a long time
to form a relationship with them so they feel safe and comfortable.
That's a significant treatment issue that they have."

Christy has been on methadone for four years - and hopes to get off
the drug by Christmas, but "you can't rush it," she said.

Choices also has a Suboxone therapy program, known as the Oasis
program, which is for those with short-term addictions. Many of the
clients at the clinic eventually switch from methadone to Suboxone.

Suboxone treatment requires counseling, Ancas said, noting the
clinic's medical director, Dr. Lisa A. Costaris, requires clients to
undergo counseling.

Ancas said the problem with doctors prescribing Suboxone is that the
addict might not be getting the counseling or support that would
ensure chances of a successful recovery.

An addict needs a lot structure, boundary setting and support, which
is what the clinic provides, Ancas said.

"These women have never had success in their life," Ancas said.
"They're the kind of women who have significant issues of trauma and
typically have started their drug and alcohol addiction at a very early
age."

For the most part, the methadone is administered to patients at the
clinic. There are people who, under strict guidelines, are allowed to
take the liquid dose methadone home with them.

Martin said it's a safe practice. While most clinics are
methadone-maintenance, the local clinic is methadone-to-abstinence,
which strives to get clients off methadone eventually, she said.

Ancas said any of the patients taking home methadone could be called
back at any time. The patients have a certain amount of time to show
up with their take-home bottle, which looks like a prescription
bottle, labeled with a date and name, and has tamper-resistant tape on
it.

Study: Community benefits

The officials at the methadone clinic are encouraged by the findings
in Pabon's study which reveals the program is not only beneficial to
the clients but to the community.

Pabon, an assistant professor of social work at Marywood, engaged in
the outcome study to see where the methadone treatment program falls.
Pabon collected data on 80 clients in September.

Martin said the study was commissioned to determine if the program
falls in line with what national studies say about the success of methadone.

"It always says when you do research about methadone clinics it should
have an impact on the criminal justice system, child welfare system or
social services in general and the overall well-being of the
community," Martin said.

Most of the clients in Pabon's study had been in the recovery program
for a little over a year with the average stay being just under two
years, the study shows.

Pabon said a majority of the clients have stayed out of jail for at
least a year. He said taxpayers are saving $60,000 per client because
it costs more to incarcerate drug addicts who commit crimes than it
does to provide the methadone.

A methadone program can cost $80 to $100 per week for one client - an
average of $4,000 per year.

Locally, 31 female clients had a minimum of 62 minor children at-risk
for child welfare services, according to Pabon's study. The clinic
probably saved the government approximately $248,000 in Luzerne
County, he said.

"These parents are better able to keep their families reunited and not
involved in child welfare," Pabon said.

Some look elsewhere for help

With the methadone clinic above capacity, addicts are forced to look
elsewhere for treatment. Many go to methadone treatment programs
through Stateline Medical in New Jersey, Ancas said, or the clinic
near Allentown.

The Lehigh Valley facility has a total of 30 clients all from the
Allentown area, according to Larry Davies, owner of Habit OPCO Inc.,
the Boston-based company that runs the clinic.

Davies said the clinic is not looking to take out-of-area recovering
addicts, because he worries about the chances of relapse. With the
economy and gas prices, Davies said, patients, especially those on
Medicaid, don't have the income.

"How are they going to drive all the way down here every day?" he
asked.

There have been other attempts to establish methadone clinics in the
area and one is in the works in Hazleton - a move that would help ease
the area's high heroin addiction problem.

The methadone clinic has turned around Christy's life. She said she
wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for the methadone treatment.

"Before the clinic I didn't care about myself or others," she said. "I
was at the point that it didn't matter anymore if I was here. If I was
gone I felt that nobody would even care."

Her child, who was born when Christy was on methadone, is now
3.

By the age of 2 her daughter knew all of her colors, could identify
every letter in the alphabet and could say the alphabet and count to
13.

"She's very smart," said Christy. "She's a little hyper, but she's
always a happy, energetic kid. She's always smiling - I couldn't ask
for anything better."

Christy is still with her daughter's father - also a recovering addict
- - who has been clean for about a year.

He's taking Suboxone for his opioid addiction. Christy has stayed away
from the drug friends.

"One my of friends - the girl who talked me into the needles - she
actually called me and we couldn't even hold a normal conversation,"
she said.

"We're just not on the same level at all."