CANDIDATE SPEAKS OUT ON DRUG CLINIC

Gary Bowman became the latest political candidate Thursday to weigh in
on a hotly debated proposal to open a Roanoke County methadone clinic
to treat drug addicts.

Bowman, an independent in the 17th District state House race,
certainly has a valid interest in the issue. He lives just inside the
Roanoke city limits about 200 yards from the proposed clinic site at
Colonial Avenue and Ogden Road, not far from Green Valley Elementary
School.

Bowman, a lawyer, is part of a neighborhood group fighting the clinic.
Last week, Bowman's Republican opponent, William Fralin, said he would
support new state legislation to bar such facilities within a
half-mile of a school.

Bowman said he supports such legislation. But he said Virginia's local
government system must be changed because it now fragments localities
to the point where they can't properly plan for future zoning and
development in areas along joint borders. The clinic might never have
had the opportunity to open in Roanoke County if it and the city had
planned together for development along Colonial Avenue.

Bowman said a better place for the clinic would be in the city near
Carilion Health System's Roanoke Memorial and Roanoke Community hospitals.

Last week, Roanoke City Councilwoman Linda Wyatt, the Democrat in the
17th District race, questioned the potential of the proposed state
legislation and said Fralin was exploiting a controversial issue for
political gain.