DA OPPOSES DRUG CLINIC

DeKalb County District Attorney Mike O'Dell is opposing a proposed
methadone clinic in Fort Payne, saying the clinic would serve no
purpose and could actually hurt efforts to combat drug addiction.

In a Wednesday press release, O'Dell also said that assuming a local
clinic is needed is wrong.

"Apparently, the proposal to place a methadone clinic in Fort Payne is
based on the assumption that there exists a need for such a clinic. I
feel very strongly that this assumption is erroneous. I work with our
local Court Referral Office, and am familiar with the daily
drug-testing that occurs in our area," O'Dell said.

Holland and Heatherly Inc., a Cullman company, recently filed an
application with the State Health Planning and Development Agency to
open Sand Mountain Recovery Center in a building at 2017 Gault Ave.,
across from Save-A-lot.

Jennie Logan, a spokesperson with the state agency, said in order for
an application to be filed, a letter of intent must first be sent out
to individuals within the county the center is intended to open in.

"Once the letter of intent is sent out, and the application is filed,
interested parties who wish to submit written statements, or indicate
a desire to appear before the Certificate of Need Review Board, to
object the plan, have 30 days to do so," Logan said.

The deadline for objections in written statements is May 31 and a
public hearing will be later in the summer.

"A methadone clinic is a business, a business I strongly believe we do
not need in our community," O'Dell said in a press release.

Court Referral records over the past year indicate 13,972 individual
drug tests were performed locally, according to O'Dell.

Those drug test results, according to O'Dell, do not support the need
for a clinic.

"These tests were conducted for every court in DeKalb County, as well
as for the Department of Human Resources, local employers, doctors'
offices, parents of juveniles, and others," O'Dell said.

According to O'Dell, only 163, or a little more than 1 percent, were
for opiates.

Methadone clinics were originally established to provide a means to
take heroin addicts off the street and reduce crime associated with
illegal drug use, according to O'Dell.

"In later years, the clinics were expanded to include replacement
therapy for other opiates," O'Dell said.

Brenda Heatherly, with Holland and Heatherly Inc., said the center
would specialize in treating people who are addicted to drugs such as
Loratab, hydrocodone, morphine and OxyCotin.

Fort Payne Mayor Bill Jordan said the city is in the process of
writing a letter in opposition to the methadone clinic.

"We feel like we have the necessary things in place and feel like it
would bring people with problems from other states into our city and
that is something we don't need," Jordan said.