METHADONE CLINIC MORATORIUM POSSIBLE

The state Health Care Authority will vote Jan. 19 whether to put a
moratorium on new methadone clinics in West Virginia.

"Methadone clinics have become quite controversial," said Sonia Chambers,
chairwoman of the HCA.

West Virginia had no methadone clinics until 2001. Now, it has seven. The
for-profit clinics sell methadone, a synthetic opioid, mostly to OxyContin
addicts. The legal methadone is supposed to replace OxyContin, the opioid
painkiller that is often obtained illegally.

Methadone is also highly addictive, and it has been abused as a street
drug. West Virginia has no state regulations on methadone clinics - unlike
its neighboring states. Delegate Marshall Long, D-Mercer, has said he plans
to introduce a bill during the legislative session to regulate methadone in
West Virginia.

In the meantime, the Health Care Authority could vote to immediately block
new methadone clinics, "while the issues have a chance to be debated in the
legislative session," Chambers said.

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

Delegate Long's home county, Mercer, is one of several where methadone
companies have applied to build clinics. The HCA has also recently gotten
"certificate of need" applications from companies wanting to build clinics
in Weirton, Greenbrier County, Mineral County, Nicholas County, and two in
Kanawha County.

"We've had a number of applications filed," Chambers said. "We've approved
a number of certificates of need, but the number of applications we receive
continues to grow."