CLINIC NEEDS CHANGE OF VENUE

The two planned centers, the Life Center of Roanoke County and a
clinic run by National Specialty Clinics within Roanoke city limits,
have received public backlash as some Roanoke residents feel methadone
clinics will present more public woes than benefits. With 42 states
housing clinics, Virginia is in the minority with no clinics currently
in operation.

The common analogy for clinic proponents compares methadone's
interaction with heroin to the use of a nicotine patch for cigarettes.

Methadone clinics distribute liquid forms of the synthetic opiate,
helping wean addicts off of heroin, oxycontin and morphine. Unlike its
opiate brethren, methadone absorbs slowly in the body, so users can
take part in normal activities including work-related tasks.

The unattended problem of heroin and oxycontin addiction pervading the
region cannot be overlooked. For Roanoke to feel as if it is insulated
from the outlying areas is irresponsible, as a great deal of its
consumers and workers are drawn from these locations.

Dissenters feel the clinics' proximity to houses and schools will lead
to drug dealers infiltrating the area and the reduction of property
values.

To condemn impoverished areas to unappealing businesses in favor of
preserving those areas with money or the voices to lobby in protest is
not a social attitude that should be espoused. The clinics should be
located in the city of Roanoke or in underdeveloped areas in one of
the surrounding counties.

Roanoke residents have just cause for setting up a petition drive in
protest to locating clinics in close proximity to schools and
residential areas.

To help alleviate the possible influx of drug dealers or methadone
abusers, the clinic within the city should seek zoning among the
city's health facilities, as far away from schools and residential
dwellings as possible.

Surrounding counties consist of plenty of lowly populated areas
perfect for an isolated clinic in a less than ideal location for
attracting large crowds of drug abusers. This accomplishes a
centralized location for a clinic that would serve the largest city
and its surrounding counties in Southwest Virginia and keep the
unappealing externalities at a reasonable distance from citizens.

In accepting these clinics, Virginia has the opportunity to
participate in a growing national movement toward acceptance of
peoples' mistakes and adopting social responsibility for those in need.