METHADONE DECISION TONIGHT

The Center Of Hope Methadone Clinic

If you go

Horry County Board of Adjustments and Zoning Appeals, 5:30 p.m. today,
Horry County Government and Justice Center, second-floor multipurpose room,
1301 Second Ave., Conway

Horry County's zoning board will decide tonight whether the county's first
methadone clinic must close its doors to satisfy the outcry from residents
who say it will attract drugs and crime.

Tonight's decision of the Board of Adjustments and Zoning Appeals will
settle the controversy that erupted last fall, when residents, business
owners and parents of children attending a nearby school learned that the
county allowed the clinic to open near Fantasy Harbour.

If the board denies approval to the clinic, the Center of Hope would be in
violation of county law and would be shut down if it didn't close voluntarily.

Methadone is an addictive narcotic used to block addiction to opiates such
as morphine, heroin and OxyContin. It is one of the treatments offered at
the clinic, which opened last month.

The clinic's directors say it will provide a needed service to hundreds of
local residents who now drive to Charleston, Columbia or Wilmington, N.C.,
to receive methadone. The clinic's attorney, Reynolds Williams, said the
county should not rescind its approval now, after the clinic has spent
money, hired employees and opened.

The clinic's directors operate a methadone clinic in Greenville and are
working to open another facility in Florence.

The board gave the clinic approval in July 2002 to open in Horry County but
voted last month to reconsider.

Opponents of the clinic say it has no place in the community. They say
there aren't enough drug addicts in the area to warrant a clinic, and they
worry the clinic could attract criminals to the area near the school.
Nearly 1,000 people have signed petitions protesting the clinic.

Bridgewater Academy, a charter school, is less than half a mile from the
clinic. Since the clinic opened, parents of students have sat in cars
across the street from the clinic to monitor the clients going in and out.

"It's not justified, it's not needed, and it's not right," said S.C. Rep.
Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, who has led the fight against the clinic. "The
zoning board of appeals has to decide who they are with: Are they with a
clinic that wants to make money by selling methadone, or are they with the
people of Horry County?"

The clinic now has about 40 regular clients and is in the process of
screening 70 more, Reynolds said.

Since the clinic opened, nothing unusual in the area has been reported to
Horry County police.

"The people resisting this have no facts. They're going on emotion,"
Williams said. "The essential question is: How can you give someone a
property right after a fair and legal hearing and then take it away?"

More than 100 residents attended the hearing when the board voted to
reconsider its earlier approval. At times, vocal opponents of the clinic
interrupted the hearing with loud protests. The clinic is the only topic on
tonight's agenda.

Board member Carl Franklin, who voted against the clinic in July 2002, said
the board must respect both sides and not give in to political pressure,
public uproar or threats of lawsuits.

"We must decide whether this is harmonious with the surrounding community,"
Franklin said. "We have an obligation to listen to both sides and to follow
due process. This is not a political decision."

Both sides of the controversy have threatened to sue the county, depending
on the outcome. Williams said a lawsuit is a possibility if the board votes
to close the clinic.

"Clearly, no business person is going to suffer a several-million-dollar
loss because of a broken promise and just take it," he said.