JEFFERSONVILLE METHADONE CLINIC'S PLANS TO EXPAND

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. -- A busy methadone clinic could add even more
patients under a planned expansion into a new building in an industrial park.

Clinic operator CRC Health Group of Cupertino, Calif., plans to build
a larger facility at Jeffersonville's Keystone Industrial Park off
Indiana 62. At nearly 20,000 square feet, the new building would be
nearly three times the size of the existing clinic on the city's north side.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate that eases the pain of withdrawal for
recovering addicts of heroin and prescription painkillers such as
OxyContin. About 1,400 patients from southern Indiana and Kentucky
now come to the for-profit clinic for daily, weekly or monthly
supplies of methadone.

Phil Herschman, an executive with CRC Health, said it's unclear how
many more patients the expanded site could serve. He said adding more
patients would allow more addicts to return to being productive
members of society.

The clinic has about 35 full-time employees, and Herschman said more
staff could be hired, depending on growth at the new site.

He also said he hopes the industrial park will be a less
controversial site than a shopping center that was proposed last fall
for a similar expansion. Neighborhood residents and some of city
officials strongly opposed that plan, fearing it would increase crime
and traffic and hurt property values.

City Councilman Ron Grooms predicted that the new site would draw
less opposition.

Keystone Industrial Park, which covers 70 acres at the intersection
of Indiana 265 and Indiana 62, largely serves trucking and light
manufacturing companies.