METHADONE BILL HEADS TO FINAL VOTE

BRISTOL, Va. - The state House of Delegates may get a final say this week
on whether Gov. Mark Warner will see a bill putting restrictions on new
methadone clinics.

The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee sent Sen. William C.
Wampler Jr.'s Senate Bill 607 to the full House Tuesday with only minor
amendments.

The bill stems from controversies involving proposed methadone clinics in
the Roanoke area and Washington County.

Wampler, R-Bristol, said the bill, cosponsored by Sen. Brandon Bell,
R-Roanoke County, still contains its original features.

It would prohibit establishment of methadone clinics within a half-mile of
public and private K-12 schools and licensed day-care centers and require
the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance
Abuse Services to notify the local governing body and community services
board within 15 days of a license application in that locality.

It also would allow local governments to submit comments to the
commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and
Substance Abuse Services within 30 days of receiving notice of an application.

The Wampler-Bell bill also would require localities to hold public hearings
on applications for methadone clinic license applications.

The state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance
Abuse Services's commissioner would have to consider comments from those
hearings before deciding whether to grant a clinic license.

Asked whether he felt the bill would pass the House, Wampler said the
committee's 14-7 vote showed it has a good chance. A House floor vote could
come as early as Thursday, he said.

Methadone clinic controversy in Southwest Virginia in recent months has
centered on zoning issues.

Washington County's county administrator, Mark Reeter, in February denied
Appalachian Treatment Services' request for an occupancy certificate for a
clinic near the Lowry Hills subdivision in a general business-zoned area.

Appalachian officials said they have been considering whether to appeal
that decision.

If the bill passes and Warner signs it into law, it would become effective
July 1. Applications not completed by July 1 would come under the provision.