Treatment or Poison?

PLANNED ADDICTION CLINIC FOCUS OF HORRY COUNTY DEBATE

About 65 Grand Strand residents regularly make the drive - many of
them every day - to the Charleston Center for drug and alcohol
addiction to take a small drink of a cherry-flavored liquid they say
keeps them clean and sober.

It's methadone, a drug created in the 1940s and first used a
painkiller but now used as a stand-in for narcotics like heroin,
OxyContin and other opiates.

Recovering addicts use it to alleviate their addictions without the
effects of withdrawal or the devilish effects of hard drug abuse.

Methadone is now at the center of a controversy about the opening of
Horry County's first narcotics treatment clinic, Center of Hope of
Myrtle Beach, which will distribute methadone.

The clinic, planned for Fantasy Harbour, has yet to receive permits to
open. But what would be South Carolina's 10th methadone clinic has
started a furor among nearby residents, merchants and public officials
who fear it will bring more addicts, drugs and crime to the Strand.

"I know we want to expand the tourism market, but I didn't know we
want heroin addicts," said S.C. Rep. Thad Viers, who has vowed to
block the clinic from opening. "If this clinic opens, the problems
that it causes will be around for decades."

The group behind Center of Hope already operates a clinic in
Greenville. Like that one, the Myrtle Beach clinic will be for-profit
and serve about 200 clients.

The Charleston Center, the state's only nonprofit methadone clinic, is
a self-sufficient division of the county health department.

Dr. Rick Sherman of Greenville will be medical adviser for the Myrtle
Beach clinic. He said the Grand Strand has a definite need for a
methadone clinic. An estimate, based on the number of addicts
traveling to clinics in Wilmington, N.C., and Charleston, indicates as
many as 200 local residents may go elsewhere to get methadone.

"There's clearly a problem if people are driving two hours to get
help," Sherman said. "This drug has been around for decades. It's one
of the most studied drugs ever created and one of the most successful
ways of treating opiate addiction. It gives people their lives back."

Vickie Johnson of North Myrtle Beach has been on methadone for 15
years after an addiction to prescription painkillers. Once a month,
she drives to West Virginia to get methadone.

"[Methadone] was a lifesaver for me," she said. "If I didn't have it
to turn to, who knows what would have happened to me."

Johnson has a job, a daughter and a college degree. She said she knows
lawyers and doctors who are on methadone.

"We're normal, everyday people," she said. "We lead normal lives
because of methadone."

Ed Johnson, the program coordinator for the Charleston Center, said
methadone has been a victim of bad press. More than 200 people receive
methadone at the Charleston Center.

"Most people hear methadone and think strung-out junkies on heroin,"
he said. "Most of the people we see are here for prescription drugs
like OxyContin."

But Dan Schoettle, outpatient treatment coordinator at Shoreline
Behavioral Health Services in Conway, said methadone often only hides
the addiction instead of treating it. And he said he would prefer the
clinic be located in a medical campus, further from residences, a
school and a church.

"There is a place for methadone," he said. "But I would want it in a
hospital setting with doctors and nurses."

Myrtle Beach recently changed its zoning rules to require any future
methadone clinics to locate in areas zoned for hospitals or doctors'
offices; that way, the clinics wouldn't be close to schools, churches
or homes.

The Charleston Center is located in the middle of the city's medical
complex, which includes a veterans' hospital, the Medical University
of South Carolina and the Charleston County Hospital. The nearest
residence is a mile away.

The Fantasy Harbour clinic's sponsors tried to open a clinic in 1998
in Socastee. Those plans fizzled after a similar outcry from residents
prompted the state General Assembly to ban any new methadone clinics
until new rules were written.

Viers said he has heard from dozens of concerned residents, and he has
the backing of the Horry County Council.

The clinic was approved by the county Board of Adjustments and Zoning
Appeals in July 2002, but Viers said he thinks that decision can be
reversed or overruled by local or state officials.

There are no studies to prove that a clinic's proximity to homes,
schools or churches can cause an increase in crime. Still, Horry
County and most other counties carefully restrict where clinics can
locate, similar to the way adult bookstores, strip clubs and body
piercing clinics are regulated.

Just around the corner from the planned clinic is Bridgewater Academy,
a charter school. Churches, homes and apartments are nearby.

County zoning rules require that any methadone clinic be located at
least 2,000 feet from any residences. The River Oaks development is
1,190 feet away. Though the county board has the power to overlook
those rules, Viers said the Board of Adjustments and Zoning Appeals
didn't follow proper procedure.

Most nearby residents and business welcomed Viers' opposition to the
clinic.

"It's got to be stopped," said Lib Click, owner of Tamroc Kennels,
which is less than a block away from the planned clinic. Click said
people have broken into her kennels three times looking for veterinary
drugs. She fears it will happen even more if the clinic opens.

"We don't need that stuff in our community," she said.

Schoettle also said he is disturbed by the way the clinic's sponsors
got county approval. He said most reputable addiction treatment
experts would have contacted the area's existing service - in this
case, Shoreline.

"Why were they hiding this?" Viers asked. "Is it because they knew
there would be no other way to get it approved?"

County council members said they didn't know about the clinic until a
week ago. County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said the council
supports Viers but won't get involved because it was the
council-appointed zoning board that approved the clinic plans.

"It wouldn't be kosher for us to get involved," Gilland said. However,
she did say, "It would bring people into the community that are
already hooked on drugs. And I don't think there's a vacuum when it
comes to resources for drug addiction. There's a concern that if it's
for-profit, they might not be sincerely concerned about their patients."

Johnson of the Charleston Center said some for-profit methadone
clinics "care only about the bottom line." But he vouched for the
sponsors of Myrtle Beach's Center of Hope, saying they are
conscientious, legitimate professionals.

"The clinic in Greenville is a good one," he said.

He said Horry County needs to learn all the facts about methadone
before deciding whether to welcome the clinic.

"Drug addiction is a disease," he said. "And most opposition to
methadone is out of fear. It's knee-jerk, reactionary histrionics. You
can ignore the problem [of drug addiction], but it won't go away. If
you ignore it, be careful, because you're ignoring your own people."