SEE THE GOOD THE CLINIC CAN DO

Sometimes a remark is so outlandish it merits public discussion.

Such is a comment by an opponent of Roanoke's new methadone clinic:
"They are legalized drug dealers," one woman said recently, referring
to the owners of the Roanoke Treatment Center. "We've got a crack
house opening up on Hershberger Road." Since when did professionals
legally dispensing a drug for purposes of curing an illness - and yes,
drug addiction is an illness - warrant being lumped together with the
lowlifes who illegally peddle the poison that destroys people's lives?

The methadone clinic is doing no more than Walgreen, CVS, Kroger and
hospitals, for that matter. Yet, no one refers to them as crack
houses, and their pharmacists as drug dealers.

The methadone clinic quietly opened this month and so far appears to
be causing no disruption.

Drug addiction is a serious problem, and people in its grips have
another outlet to receive the help they desperately need.

The good that the clinic can provide should now be Roanoke residents'
focus - not the creation of phantom problems.