CITY LOOKS AT NEW RULES FOR METHADONE CLINICS

Ald. Colley-Urquhart Calls On Province To 'Step Up To The Plate'

Methadone clinics in Calgary may be allowed in light industrial areas
and could require community consultation before approval, pending the
outcome of a report commissioned by city council.

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, who proposed the motion along with Ald.
Brian Pincott, says it is a Band-Aid solution and wants Alberta Health
to "step up to the plate and do their job."

"It's a reactive approach," she says. "We need to have prevention,
rehabilitation, harm-reduction and enforcement, those are the four
pillars of a drug strategy."

Following the disastrous relocation of Second Chance Methadone Clinic
into a Braeside strip mall, which caused massive public outcry,
council has agreed to consider whether methadone clinics should
continue to be zoned as medical facilities, whether they can be
located in light industrial areas and how the public-consultation
process should work.

Earlier this year, Second Chance was forced to move from its previous
location on 41st Ave. N.E. because it was zoned as an industrial area.