ADDICTS GET HELP QUIETLY

Framingham Facility Handles Its Business 'Just About Invisibly'

FRAMINGHAM -- Had there not been years of protests and concerns about a
downtown methadone clinic before it became reality in August 2002, most
people in town might not even know it's there.

Almost 2 1/2 years after it opened, Spectrum Health System's drug treatment
clinic on Howard Street serves about 140 recovering heroin addicts, giving
them doses of methadone and offering counseling on how to give up the habit.

That number is up from 93 addicts served every day a little more than a
year ago, said Spectrum president and chief executive officer Chuck Faris.

"We've been pretty low-key at that location," he said. "It's been a pretty
smooth operation."

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that curbs heroin cravings and allows
addicts to lead somewhat normal lives. Most of those using the clinic for
methadone treatment and counseling for addiction come from Framingham.

Critics feared the clinic would bring in scores of problem-plagued
out-of-towners. A man claiming to be a Spectrum patient called the News
this week to complain about the clinic giving doses several hours after the
9 a.m. cutoff that was presented to the town years ago.

The clinic's licenses and agreement is filed with the state Department of
Public Health. The only jurisdiction the town has over the clinic is if it
expands or wants to undergo a renovation, said Inspectional Services
Director Joe Mikielian.

No complaints have been filed with the police or state DPH about the
clinic. DPH chief of staff Ian Lang said the clinic's hours of operation is
up to the town, but said 6 to 9 a.m. is the industry standard.

Faris said treatments run from about 6 to 9:30 a.m. and Spectrum never had
a written agreement with the town to stop giving out doses at a particular
time.

Spectrum appeared before selectmen and the Zoning Board of Appeals as far
back as the mid-1990s. Neither ZBA Chairman Phil Ottaviani nor Selectman
Charles Sisitsky remembered any stipulation about times or the population size.

"They've been operating just about invisibly down there," said Sisitsky.
"That's what we said was going to be the case when we decided not to fight it."

Police Chief Steven Carl said officers check on the clinic "all the time,"
but said there have been no complaints and the facility is usually "quiet
as a mouse."

Legal battles with the town about the methadone clinic stretched for six
years. Eventually town officials agreed to allow the clinic to open despite
a vote from Town Meeting to keep up the fight.

Spectrum, which operates a clinic in Milford and two in Worcester, liked
Framingham's central location and chose it as a site because nearly a third
of its Milford clinic clients were from Framingham.

Clinic opponents and downtown business owners formed the Downtown Safety
Committee, which filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Public
Health. The lawsuit was withdrawn last year by the plaintiffs.