MORATORIUM ON METHADONE CLINICS BEING CONSIDERED

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state Health Care Authority is considering a
moratorium on new methadone clinics in West Virginia.

Critics argue that for-profit clinics owned by companies headquartered in
other states are making profits off of West Virginia's citizens. The
authority will vote on the proposed moratorium Jan. 19.

"A number of people in state government, legislators and regular citizens
have concerns about methadone clinics," authority chairwoman Sonia Chambers
said Wednesday. "There are strong feelings on both sides."

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic used to treat people addicted to
opium-based drugs such as heroin, morphine and OxyContin and wean them off
those drugs. The clinics sell daily doses of methadone to people who ingest
the chemical in front of a nurse.

West Virginia is attractive to methadone sellers because it has no state
regulations on methadone. West Virginia's OxyContin addicts are a major
market for methadone sellers, but many of the clinics' customers come from
border states that have strict rules on methadone sales.

Delegate Marshall Long, D-Mercer and a family doctor, said that during the
upcoming legislative session, he will introduce a bill which will regulate
methadone, which is addictive and can kill novice users who buy it on the
street.

Private firms have proposed five new methadone clinics in West Virginia,
which had no clinics in 2001 and now has seven.