METHADONE CLINIC URGENTLY NEEDED

I am 26 and have been a patient at the LCG/Tazewell methadone clinic for
three years, during which I have worked the program to the fullest and have
been successful with my recovery due to the help of methadone. You only hear
about the tragedies due to methadone, never all the success stories.
Methadone saved my life and has given me the opportunity to have a life.

Being a resident and former addict of Lee County, I know how bad addiction
is in our town. The crime rate is high due to it and it's not safe to walk
down the road because of the possibility of getting robbed. We need a
methadone clinic in our area. It would clean our town up, and if you look at
other clinics and the areas they serve, crime is lowered. A methadone clinic
is not going to bring the bad element to our town; they are already here.
There are many addicts here who would love to get help and get free from
their addiction but don't have the means.

It seems like the people of this community would be willing to do whatever
it takes to help clean up our town instead of trying to fight something that
is desperately needed. A methadone clinic here would help a lot of good
people who have been caught up in a deadly game of addiction, and they would
get help but can't afford to drive or pay someone to take them to the
nearest MMT clinic, which is two hours away. This community is so
misinformed about what methadone is and what a methadone clinic does and
ignorance of the subject is blinding them from seeing the good it would do.
Before disregarding a clinic in Pennington Gap, the town council should hold
a town meeting so people like me can speak out and show them what a great
thing this could be.

Summer Pendergraft

Pennington Gap, Va.