COUNTY BRACES FOR DRUG CLINIC

Despite opposition from county commissioners and Shelby County Sheriff Chris
Curry, the state Certificate of Need Board granted approval this month for a
methadone clinic in the county.

The board serves the State Health Planning and Development Agency in
Montgomery.

Some reports indicated the clinic is planned for Calera, although
Calera Mayor George Roy could not confirm it.

"The only thing that I know is it's been approved at the state," Roy
said last week. "I have no idea where."

Shelby County Attorney Frank C. "Butch" Ellis said Monday the county
had no immediate plans to block the proposed methadone clinic. Ellis
said, however, the county commission remains opposed to the proposed
methadone clinic.

"That opposition continues, but whether that opposition will translate
into any legal opposition - at this point, I don't think anybody can
say," Ellis said.

The state Certificate of Need Board granted applicants Susan
Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibald approval to open a methadone
clinic in Shelby County.

Methadone is a prescription medication used to combat symptoms of
addiction to painkillers or heroin.

Curry had written a letter that was approved by the Shelby County
Commission opposing the methadone clinic; however, the clinic was
approved anyway.

On Tuesday, Sidwell said she hopes to find an industrial location in
Calera. She said Calera is a central site between other regional
clinics in the state.

According to Sidwell, there is a need for methadone treatment in
Shelby County.

She said she has heard from "tons" of addicts in Shelby County who
cannot find reliable transportation to methadone clinics outside the
county.

Within a year of opening Shelby County's first methadone clinic,
Sidwell said she predicts it will treat 100 patients daily.

"People have contacted me," Sidwell said. "They're
desperate."

Some prescription drugs that lead to methadone treatment include the
painkillers Lortab and Oxycontin, according to Sidwell. Methadone
mimics the brain function of non-addicts.

"It's permanently brain-changing," she said of opiate addiction.
"Methadone tells them they're OK and they can be taxpaying citizens
again."

Sidwell responded to the opposition posed by Curry and some
commissioners, saying that addicts are sometimes unfairly associated
with crime.

She said the clinic she wants to open will serve people seeking help,
not necessarily criminals ordered to treatment through the courts.

"When they're in treatment, they're getting help," Sidwell said. "It's
like a diabetic that needs insulin."

For the past 10 years, Sidwell has served as executive director and
part-owner of the Northwest Alabama Treatment Center in Bessemer, a
methadone clinic. She said the center is located adjacent to a church
and several doctor's offices, and she has had no problems.

With this month's approval from the state Certificate of Need Board,
Sidwell said finding a location is the only step remaining for the
county's first methadone clinic.