METHADONE CLINIC LEGISLATION FACES VOTE IN SENATE

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - As communities in western Virginia struggle to cope
with the drug abuse wrought by OxyContin, legislation introduced at the
General Assembly could severely restrict where certain treatment clinics
are allowed to be located.

Two bills face a final vote in the Senate this week - one that would
prohibit any methadone clinic within a half mile of a school or day care
center, and another that would require the state to notify localities when
a methadone clinic is proposed in their area.

Both bills aim to protect communities from the ill effects some associate
with methadone clinics - drug dealing and increased crime. Advocates say
localities are often unaware that privately run clinics have even applied
for a license with the state until it's too late to oppose the clinic's
location.

"Methadone treatment is for the most severe addictions, and what I've heard
a lot of my citizens say, they recognize the need for treatment, but in the
right setting," said Sen. William C. Wampler, R-Bristol, a co-sponsor of
the legislation along with Sen. J. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County.

Western Virginia already has three methadone clinics - in Galax, Tazewell
County and Charlottesville - which largely treat addicts of the
prescription painkiller Oxycontin.

Critics say the clinics just substitute one drug for another, despite
studies that show methadone is an effective way to treat addiction to
opium-based drugs.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that was developed during World War II as
an alternative to morphine. Some methadone patients stay on the drug for
years, others for life.

Clinics must obtain a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration to
prescribe methadone. They also must be licensed by the state.

But current law does not require the state to notify localities and local
community services boards when a company has applied for a license. Both
the Wampler-Bell bill and another submitted by Sen. John S. Edwards,
D-Roanoke, would mandate such notification to give localities a chance to
hold a public hearing on the matter.

Edwards said this would have allowed the city of Roanoke to fight a
proposed clinic in the city near two schools and a church.

The clinic already has received its occupancy permit and is now awaiting
its license from the state, much to the chagrin of local residents, he said.

Wampler's bill takes the issue a step further by seeking an outright ban on
any methadone clinic located within a half mile of a school or a day-care
center.

The legislation carves out an exception for heavily populated northern
Virginia, but lawmakers questioned whether it would push clinics out of a
city the size of Roanoke entirely.

"If you plot every school and child care center and draw a circle around
them, would there be any spaces left?" asked Sen. Janet D. Howell, a
Fairfax County Democrat on the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Proponents acknowledged that police have not encountered serious crime
around the clinics in Galax and Tazewell County. But this hasn't stopped
residents from voicing their concern over the proposed Roanoke site, or
another in Washington County just outside Bristol.

Wampler said the Washington County proposal prompted his bill. The
legislation could affect that clinic's license application since it would
be located within a half mile from a school.

That worried Sen. William C. Mims, R-Loudoun, who said the bill could be
deemed unconstitutional if it became law because it interferes with a
business contract.

Mims was one of two senators on the committee to vote against the
Wampler-Bell proposal. Edwards' bill passed unanimously.

The House also presents a stumbling block to the Wampler-Bell legislation.
The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee effectively killed
similar legislation last week by incorporating it into a less restrictive
measure proposed by Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke.

Ware's bill only calls for prior notification of planned clinics, similar
to Edwards'.