JUDGE DENIES METHADONE CLINIC

Appeal Set; Other Applications Looming

A Shelby County Circuit judge upheld an order prohibiting a methadone
clinic from conducting business in Saginaw.

Dan Reeves upheld an injunction against the Shelby County Treatment
Center, which was set to open on U.S. Highway 31 in Saginaw. Reeves'
decision came last week after a series of court hearings in which the
clinic's owners argued that they had the right to open in
unincorporated Saginaw.

Plaintiffs, including District Attorney Robby Owens and Pelham
prosecutor Mickey Johnson, claimed that the clinic owners violated due
process by changing the clinic's proposed location to Saginaw. Saginaw
residents were never given the opportunity to oppose the clinic,
according to the plaintiffs.

Clinic owners Susan Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibald originally
filed an application for a methadone clinic in Calera in November
2003. They amended the application in May to open the clinic in
Saginaw, an unincorporated community between Calera and Alabaster.

Neighborhood homeowners, legislators and law enforcement officials
rallied in opposition to the clinic. Methadone is a prescribed
medication used to combat addiction to heroin and prescription drugs.

Owens held a press conference following Reeves' decision.

"He (Reeves) found that procedural due process was not met," Owens
said.

Owens disputed Staats-Sidwell's claim that she could not find a
suitable or affordable location in Calera. He said that Staats-Sidwell
intended to open the clinic elsewhere when she filed the application
indicating Calera.

"In fact, you could do it much cheaper in Calera than you could in
Saginaw. Our contention all along was that she didn't intend to put
the clinic in Calera," he said.

Despite Owens' argument, Reeves' ruling only states that citizens were
denied due process in the application process for the clinic.

"We never deny citizens their right to be heard, but that's what
happened," Owens said. "But not now."

Alan Edmondson lives next door to the proposed location of the
methadone clinic in Saginaw. He helped organize opposition to the
clinic's opening. Edmondson said neighbors are glad that Reeves
blocked the clinic.

"We were kind of ecstatic around here," he said. "I think it's a good
decision. I think it will stand."

Along with the sheriff and district attorney, Edmondson disagrees with
methadone's medical use.

"There is no use for methadone. If you are serious about getting off
of drugs, there is a way to do it," he said.

Edmondson said he has warned neighboring residents of Alabaster about
methadone clinics that may be proposed for their city. Edmondson said
one man from a methadone clinic in Bessemer told him he wanted to open
a clinic near Shelby Baptist Hospital.

Owens denied Staats-Sidwell's claims that he used the methadone clinic
controversy as a political weapon. Owens is running for re-election
this fall.

"I hope it never becomes political when it comes to me standing up for
the people who elected me," he said.

Owens said he does not think the county needs a methadone clinic,
calling methadone a substance of abuse. He said his opposition to
future clinics proposed for the county depends on their location.
Owens said he has not received any notice of applications for new
methadone clinics in the county.

During one of the court proceedings for the methadone clinic, one man
said that he would follow Staats-Sidwell with his own application for
a methadone clinic in Shelby County. Robert White is founder of the
Northwest Alabama Treatment Center in Bessemer, one of three methadone
clinics in Jefferson County.

According to Staats-Sidwell, Shelby County residents need methadone
treatment. She filed an immediate appeal of Reeves' injunction last
week.

"I'm very sad. I think this is a tragedy for people who need medical
treatment," she said.

During court proceedings, Staats-Sidwell said the Certificate of Need
issued to her for the methadone clinic applied county-wide, although
the original location listed in the application was Calera.

"Because I could not find a place I made an amendment to Saginaw," she
said.