PUT THE METHADONE CLINIC AT THE VA MEDICAL CENTER

Whenever an unpopular community issue is resolved, someone is going to be
unhappy. So goes the issue of placing a methadone clinic in the Roanoke Valley.

As of now, the methadone clinic is scheduled to open on Hershberger Road in
the next few months. Those of us in the Northwest community who are against
this location have given a number of legitimate reasons why placing the
clinic at the Hershberger Road location is a train wreck waiting to happen.

As we have said before, we are not against methadone clinics. We are
against the location of this one. The central issue of our concerns is our
children - our children who have to go to school next to a methadone clinic
and the children who will be negatively impacted by a methadone clinic
being placed in Northwest Roanoke.

Also, let's be honest. At the site on Hershberger Road, it's only a matter
of time before the methadone administered at the clinic will end up being
sold on the street, probably just a few blocks down the road from the
clinic site. And who will be selling this new product? Our children.

Middle school- and high school-aged drug dealers, yes, but they are still
our children. There are no age limitations in joining the VH1 or LTP gangs
or in selling drugs on the street to make money. In the drug dealing
business, the younger the dealer, the better. Younger drug dealers aren't
noticed as much by the police. They also don't do as much time in jail as
older drug dealers.

There are other concerns we have that we have talked about at length.
However, our No. 1 concern about the Hershberger Road site is the negative
effect on our children.

So, what is the solution? Is there a place where this clinic can go that is
advantageous to all parties involved? Is there a place in the Roanoke
Valley for this clinic that is away from our schools, away from our
children, away from residential areas, away from business areas, that is
secure and can provide safe methadone treatment to those who need it?

Yes, there is. That place is the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.
Without the stereotypes and without the NIMBY mentality, let's look
objectively at this solution to the methadone clinic problem.

Methadone clinics, serving both veterans and nonveterans, at VA hospitals
are nothing new. It has worked at other locations in the country. If this
setup can work in other parts of the country to the satisfaction of all
parties involved, why can't it work in Roanoke?

More so than any other site in the Roanoke Valley, it's away from our
schools and our children. There is better security at the VA site than at
the Hershberger Road site. Because of federal guidelines, the clinic will
have to run a tighter ship at the VA site than at the Hershberger Road site.

There isn't a gang influence to worry about at the VA. It's away from
residential areas. It's away from business areas. The VA can make money off
the clinic through the Enhanced Use Lease program.

With federal cutbacks coming, and they are coming, the Salem VA would be
able to point to its methadone program as a way to insulate itself from any
talk of having the facility closed.

With the vastness of the VA grounds, the clinic can be placed away from the
main facilities. The site is on existing public transportation routes. It's
easily accessible to those using private transportation. It can handle the
expected traffic from the clinic better than the Hershberger Road site.

Any liability questions can be worked out by all of the parties involved.
By using the VA site, any illegal sale of methadone in the community could
fall under both state and federal law enforcement jurisdictions, a further
deterrent to the plans the VH1 and LTP gangs have for selling methadone.

I am not attempting to dump this clinic into the laps of our veterans or
the good people at the VA. The very reason I am able to write my opinion is
because of the efforts of our veterans: my father who served in Vietnam, my
sister who served in the former Yugoslavia and my brother currently serving
in Iraq. I have nothing but respect for those involved with the VA. I
certainly understand their concerns.

However, in the methadone clinic issue, there are more cons than pros for
placing the clinic at a site in Roanoke County. There are more cons than
pros for placing the clinic on Hershberger Road. At the VA Medical Center
in Salem, there are more pros than cons for placing it there.

In the controversy involving the methadone clinic, the VA Medical Center
represents the best solution for everyone involved.