FOCUS ON AVAILABILITY, NOT SITE, OF METHADONE TREATMENTS

The Issue: Drug Treatment Options

Our opinion: What difference does it make where the clinics are
located as long as capacity is not a problem? Using existing ones in
Lake County would help bring

The Indiana House of Representatives is considering legislation to
allow a methadone clinic to operate in Porter County.

It is an understandable reaction to the county's high rate of heroin
use. "We found out that Porter County is third or fourth in the
nation, as a county, per capita, for treatment for heroin addiction,
which was a shock, I think, to most of us that represent that
county," said state Rep. Ralph Ayres, R-Chesterton.

Methadone is used to detoxify people addicted to heroin and other opiates.

Ayres is sponsor of House Bill 1023, which would allow methadone
clinics to operate in counties adjacent to the counties that already
have clinics operating. Reps. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, and Duane
Cheney, D-Portage, are co-sponsors.

Porter County residents with a heroin addiction can seek treatment at
four clinics in Gary.

It is not unreasonable to expect Porter County's heroin addicts to go
to Lake County to seek treatment.

What difference does it make where the clinics are located as long as
capacity is not a problem? Using existing clinics in Lake County
would help bring the region closer together to solve a common problem
- -- the debilitating effects of illegal drugs.

What the legislation should address, rather than the geographic
distribution of the clinics, is the availability of treatment.

If there aren't enough patient openings at existing clinics, then
that should be the argument for either expanding those clinics or
building new ones. But don't argue for a new clinic for Porter County
simply because the county has a major heroin problem.

Look it up online

Read the text of House Bill 1023 at http://nwitimes.com/bills.