METHADONE CLINIC NEIGHBORHOOD SOUNDS OFF

Jeff Artis sent more than a few people's eyebrows skyward with his
letter to the editor printed Thursday on our editorial page.

The board chairman of the Roanoke Southern Christian Leadership
Conference reiterated the SCLC's opposition to the imminent opening of
a methadone clinic on Hershberger Road. The SCLC "has been very clear
on how it would shut the clinic down if the clinic ever opened," Artis
wrote.

And, "The time for talking is over."

And, "It's shutdown time."

Artis is one of several leaders in Northwest Roanoke who has protested
the clinic, saying it does not belong near schools and neighborhoods.
Clients could cause trouble, dealers could seek out clients for drug
sales and residents could see harm coming to their children and their
property, opponents have said.

While their position has been clear for more than a year, Artis'
letter seemed to contain more than the usual degree of heat.

The headline atop it - put there by the newspaper, not the writer -
didn't help.

"The methadone clinic is going down," it said.

Semantically, there is a profound difference between "going down" and
"shutting down." "Going down" implies a violent end. "Shutting down"
implies an action taken as a result of outside pressure.

The combination of the two expressions, plus Artis' strong conviction,
made his letter seem flat-out threatening.

"I thought it was a little harsh," said Michael Anderson, 45, who grew
up in the neighborhood. "That was a little too strong."

Lanvan Reid, an SCLC member, agreed that Artis came on strong, but
said, "I guess he's trying to get a message across."

Perneller Chubb-Wilson, the SCLC president in Roanoke, said nobody
should get alarmed. (Artis could not be reached.)

"Shutting it down means we're going to picket and demonstrate," she
told me. "We're a Christian organization. ... Anybody who knows
anything about Martin Luther King's organization knows it's a
nonviolent organization."

Nobody wants a methadone clinic near their house or their kid's
school. South Roanoke doesn't, Northeast doesn't, Raleigh Court
doesn't and Southeast doesn't.

Northwest doesn't, either - but it's getting one.

Many Northwest residents believe the city has allowed California-based
CRC Health Group to go into business on Hershberger Road because the
area is predominantly black, relatively poor and less politically
powerful than other neighborhoods.

The city says the business meets the commercial zoning. The original
application for a business permit did not mention the word
"methadone," but city officials have said they couldn't have blocked
the permit even if that word had been used.

The clinic will give daily doses of methadone, a synthetic narcotic,
to recovering addicts of opium-based drugs such as heroin and
Oxycontin. Many of the clients will show up at 5 a.m. But not all of
them will.

While the CRC building is in a commercial area, it's near two schools
and numerous houses. Area children walk past it all the time.

In individual interviews Friday morning, several residents expressed
mixed emotions about the clinic.

"It helps people," said William Gilbert outside the Jordan Mart on
Cove Road. But he also said, "They dumped it over here in the black
section."

Next door, at Moe's Deli, owner Moe Ababseh said his customers "don't
like the idea" of a clinic on Hershberger.

Betty Clay, co-owner of Reid and Russell Florist, said methadone can
help addicts if it's handled properly and hurt them if it's not.

"People have got their kids to look out for, and you've got to respect
their concerns," said Steve Hamilton, outside the Lafayette Grocery
Mart. But he also said, "I can't see denying people the help they need."

The SCLC, the Northwest Concerned Citizens, churches and other groups
have alerted residents to the cause. Picketing, surveillance and other
measures will start soon.

But not violence.

"We've come too far for that," said Anderson.

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