CLINIC OFFERS DRUG ADDICTS PATH TO RECOVERY

LOS FRESNOS, July 8, 2004 -- Last year, the opening of a Los Fresnos
methadone clinic for opiate addicts stunned the community.

Leticia Garza, a 42-year-old surgical technician and director of the
clinic, said many prominent citizens expressed discontent when she
announced the Santa Cecilia Community Health Services clinic would
treat opiate addiction, which most people relate to heroin abuse.

"It's a stigma," said Garza about drug treatment in a small town.
"Before I opened the clinic, I had nothing but negative (comments)
from the city mayor, the pastor next door, the citizens of Los Fresnos
and from the Police Department. I said, 'Sir, it could be your son, my
son, your daughter, or my daughter.'"

Garza said Santa Cecilia is the nearest clinic to Brownsville that
uses methadone to treat the addiction. It's a synthetic drug developed
in Germany during World War II and has been used to help heroin
addicts in the United States since the late 1960s.

Garza said the Los Fresnos location is safer than Brownsville, where
she fears illegal drug abusers would likely try to break into the clinic.

"After some research, I saw too many patients with heroin addiction in
the area," Garza said about her decision to open a clinic near
Brownsville and Harlingen.

With the assistance of Carlos Rosas, a local doctor, and two
counselors, Garza said the clinic has helped about 60 patients.

Garza said the only other Rio Grande Valley clinic that uses methadone
for heroin addiction treatment is in Edinburg.

Methadone is also used to treat patients who use other types of drugs
that contain opiates such as hydrocodone, vicadin, morphine, darvon,
codeine and oxycodone.

"The big one right now is oxycodone," said Don Shatfield, a licensed
chemical dependency counselor at Santa Cecilia. "It used to be
prescribed only for severe pain in a short term. Now doctors are
giving it out for many different things."

According to Garza, some of the withdrawal symptoms patients
experience when they don't have methadone includes severe muscle and
bone pain, emotional distress, restlessness, diarrhea, vomiting,
insomnia and full body shakes.

Shatfield said some patients might need to be on methadone the rest of
their lives. He said some clinics that treat heroin addiction oppose
methadone as a treatment, but he believes it's a social responsibility
to try everything.

Although the clinic is a for-profit business, Garza said it makes
referrals to the Edinburg clinic, which accepts patients who are
unable to afford treatment at Santa Cecilia. Garza said Santa Cecilia
is approved by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Texas
Department of Health.

Garza said the clinic has two programs to treat heroin addiction:
short-term detoxification and a long-term detoxification.

"All the patients that come through our doors do so voluntarily,"
Garza said. "We don't go out and make these people come here."

The short-term program takes 21 days for moderate opiate users. The
program uses a "step-down" method designed to safely and humanely
treat the addiction. The method involves a gradual reduction in opiate
consumption until the patient is drug free.

The long-term program takes up to 180 days and is best suited for
addicts with an extensive opiate dependence history.

"The advantage with the methadone clinic is that we prevent them from
shooting up, sharing needles, or contracting HIV, hepatitis or any
other infections," Garza said.

Despite safety issues, Garza said they plan to open a clinic within
the next few months in downtown Brownsville.

Garza is applying for state grants so the Brownsville clinic can be
available to all people, regardless of affordability.

"It will benefit many families in Brownsville," Garza said.

[sidebar]

MORE INFORMATION

The clinic is located at 220 E. Ocean Blvd.

Costs: $200 methadone maintenance; $150 for 21-day detoxification program.

For more information, call (956) 233-4900.