BILL TO RESTRICT METHADONE CLINICS CLEARS HOUSE PANEL

It Would Not Affect Existing Clinics Or Facilities That Already Have
Licenses And Occupancy Permits From The State, Such As A Proposed Clinic On
Hershberger Road In Roanoke.

RICHMOND - Legislation that would restrict the location of methadone
clinics cleared a House of Delegates committee Tuesday, enabling the full
House to vote on a bill that has received significant scrutiny in the
Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia.

The bill (SB 607) would prohibit a methadone clinic from opening within a
half-mile radius of a school or day care center, unless the clinic operates
out of a state-licensed hospital or state-owned facility.

"Methadone treatment ought to be in a logical setting," said the bill's
sponsor, Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol.

The legislation would not affect existing clinics or facilities that
already have licenses and occupancy permits from the state, such as a
proposed clinic on Hershberger Road in Roanoke. But the bill would
effectively ban future clinics from most of Roanoke, according to a
computer map prepared by The Roanoke Times.

The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee sent the bill to the
floor on a voice vote, though some members objected to placing geographic
restrictions on clinics. Opponents of Wampler's bill argued that it
discriminates against addicts who need methadone treatment to stop using
other drugs. Some recipients of methadone treatment already must drive
several hours to get the medication, opponents said.

Wampler told the committee that he had heard from parents of children who
overdosed on methadone and from others who cited evidence of a "secondary
market" for the medication.

The House panel earlier this year shelved a similar bill (HB 304) sponsored
by Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke. Unlike Wampler's proposal, Fralin's bill
would have scuttled CRC Healthgroup's plans for a treatment center on
Hershberger Road. Committee members determined that it would have been
unfair to apply the restrictions to a company that already had obtained a
business license and certificate of occupancy.

Wampler's bill also requires state officials to notify local governments
and community services boards of plans for a methadone clinic within 15
days of receiving applications from prospective clinic operators. Roanoke
officials complained that they knew nothing of CRC Healthgroup's plans for
the Hershberger Road site until the company was well into the application
process.

The House last month passed legislation (HB 745) sponsored by Del. Onzlee
Ware, D-Roanoke, that contained similar notification requirements but no
geographic restrictions. The measure remains bottled up in a Senate committee.

Because Ware's bill remains in limbo, the House committee Tuesday defeated
a motion to send an identical Senate bill (SB 134) to the full House. The
committee's action baffled the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke.

Edwards told the committee that he wanted his bill passed in case the House
killed Wampler's more sweeping measure. But committee members said they
were reluctant to send Edwards' bill to the floor while Ware's bill
remained stuck in a Senate committee.

"It looks like games are being played," Edwards said after the House panel
tied up his bill.