POLITICIANS PROPOSE CHANGE IN LAW TO KEEP OUT METHADONE CLINIC

Trio Of Republicans Wants To Outlaw Drug Treatment Clinics Within A
Half-Mile Of Schools

Residents are concerned because the site is close to Green Valley
Elementary School and New Vista Montessori School.

A proposed methadone clinic in Roanoke County was thrust into the political
fray Wednesday, with two General Assembly candidates pledging to introduce
legislation that would bar such facilities within a half-mile of a school.

Republicans Brandon Bell and William Fralin, who are running for the Senate
and House districts that include the proposed site, announced their plans
at a news conference also attended by House Majority Leader Morgan
Griffith, R-Salem.

The trio said the law is needed to stop plans by the Life Center of Galax,
which touched off a firestorm of community opposition earlier this month
when it announced plans to open a satellite methadone clinic at Colonial
Avenue and Ogden Road.

One concern raised by residents is that the site is close to Green Valley
Elementary School and New Vista Montessori School.

"It is just not the appropriate place to have this type of facility," said
Fralin, who is running for the 17th District seat in the House of Delegates.

"We see no reason why anyone would oppose such legislation in the General
Assembly," said Bell, a candidate for the Senate's 22nd District.

Even if the clinic were to open before such a law was passed, the
legislation could be applied retroactively to prohibit it from operating,
Griffith said.

There are about a dozen methadone clinics operating in Virginia; Bell and
Fralin said they did not know if any of them are located close enough to a
school to be affected by the proposed law.

Although Life Center officials could not be reached for comment, it
appeared that the methadone clinic that is part of the drug treatment
center's main operation in Galax might also fall within the law's reach.
Galax Elementary School is about three blocks from the clinic, about the
same distance Green Valley is from the Roanoke County site. Principal Alvin
Davidson said he has not measured the distance, but suspected it was less
than a half-mile.

Davidson said there have been no problems associated with the methadone
clinic at his school during his five-year tenure as principal. "There have
never been any issues that I'm aware of," he said. "Not on the campus, I'm
absolutely certain of that."

Galax Police Chief Rick Clark has also said that the clinic had not created
problems with crime in the neighborhood.

Yet crime has been one of the main fears voiced by Roanoke County residents
- - and was the theme that Bell, Fralin and Griffith sounded as well.

Griffith said some of the patients at the clinic might be sex offenders.
"We can't have registered sex offenders loitering within yards of an
elementary school bus stop and within sight of an elementary school," he said.

If lawmakers made it illegal to dispense methadone within a half-mile of a
school, it would make the prohibited zone involving a legally prescribed
drug greater than what exists for illegal drugs near school grounds.
Current law provides for an enhanced sentence if illegal drugs are dealt
within 1,000 feet of a school.

Fralin's and Bell's opponents accused them of exploiting a controversial
issue for political gain.

"The word opportunism comes to mind with me," said Linda Wyatt, a member of
Roanoke City Council who is running against Fralin. Wyatt, a Democrat,
questioned whether the law, if approved next year by the General Assembly,
could really be used retroactively to shut down existing clinics.

"It sounds nice, but the reality of it is that it's kind of like pandering
to the public," Wyatt said. "I think it's playing on the emotions of the
community rather than really offering them viable solutions."

Wyatt said she did not have enough information about the proposed methadone
clinic to form an opinion about the site.

Gary Bowman, a third candidate running as an independent for the House
seat, could not be reached for comment.

Bell's Democratic opponent, Stephen Emick, said that while he is opposed to
the Life Center's planned location, it's too early in the process to seek
action from the General Assembly.

"Bringing state legislation into something that is clearly a local issue is
something that I think is an effort to demagogue the situation," Emick
said. "It's simply a media ploy on the part of these two candidates."

Despite doubts raised by Wyatt, the three Republicans who proposed the
legislation insisted that it could be applied to the Roanoke County clinic.
Griffith said he planned to seek an emergency amendment to the bill that
would allow it to take effect immediately upon passage.

No opening date for the clinic is planned because the Life Center must
first receive approval from a number of state and federal agencies,
including the Drug Enforcement Administration. The clinic plans to dispense
methadone, a synthetic narcotic used to treat people addicted to
opium-based drugs such as OxyContin and heroin, to as many as 300 patients.
Not all of the patients would visit the clinic daily.

Although Life Center officials could not be reached after Wednesday's news
conference, they indicated earlier in the day that their plans would not be
altered by opposition from about 200 residents at a community meeting
Monday and a pledge the next day by the Board of Supervisors to fight the
proposal.

"Our plans remain the same at this time," marketing director Deborah May
said in an e-mail.