CLARK COUNTY COULD FILE CLINIC INJUNCTION THURSDAY

Clark County officials could seek an injunction against the Southern
Indiana Treatment Center, a methadone clinic, as early as Thursday, county
attorney Dan Moore said during a telephone interview Tuesday evening.

"I think there are a lot of issues with the safety," said Moore. "I have my
thoughts in my mind, and I've done my legal research."

Last Thursday, the Clark County Commissioners voted 3-0 to seek an
injunction against the methadone clinic, on the basis of public safety
issues that became apparent when the clinic opened at its Charlestown Pike
location a week ago today.

If the injunction is granted, it could force the clinic to close its doors
until it proves to the court that public safety issues relating to its
operation have been addressed.

Moore declined to comment on legal strategy, but said he likely would
discuss the matter after the petition seeking the injunction is filed.

The 1,400-patient clinic -- which is owned by California-based CRC Health
Group -- moved from its longtime Jeffersonville location last week to a
site that is in an unincorporated area of Clark County along Ind. 62.

During the clinic's opening hours of operation last Wednesday, officers
from the Clark County Sheriff's Department worked three vehicle crashes --
one involving minor injuries to four people -- and wrote 53 citations and
had 13 vehicles towed.

During Thursday's commissioners' meeting, CRC Regional Director Tim Bohman
said the clinic would address parking problems by requiring employees to
park off-site and then shuttling them to work. He also said the Southern
Indiana Treatment Center had spoken with the property's owner about adding
approximately 40 parking spaces behind the building.

Following the commissioners' vote to seek the injunction, Bohman said he
was "disappointed," but that he could not comment further on the threatened
litigation.

The commissioners have written, notarized statements from people who have
witnessed safety problems stemming from the clinic's new location. As of
early Tuesday afternoon, five statements had been submitted to the board's
office. Moore said the quantity of the statements is less important than
the detailed information included within them.

The Southern Indiana Treatment Center obtained state permission to transfer
its license to the Charlestown Pike location shortly before Gov. Mitch
Daniels signed a law prohibiting new methadone clinics from opening in
Indiana through the end of next year. During the moratorium, state
officials are supposed to evaluate Indiana's methadone laws and determine
whether they should become more stringent, to stem the influx of people
from out of state seeking methadone treatments.

The law Daniels signed was sponsored by State Sen. Connie Sipes, D-New
Albany, and was ushered through the House by Rep. Steve Stemler,
D-Jeffersonville.

Stemler spoke during last week's commissioners' meeting, saying traffic and
parking problems created by the Southern Indiana Treatment Center's move
had gotten the attention of legislators throughout the state.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid and a schedule II controlled substance
under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. It was introduced in the U.S. in
the late 1940s for pain management before it began being used in opioid
treatment programs in the 1960s, according to a November report published
by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The report says that methadone "suppresses withdrawal symptoms, reduces
cravings for opioid drugs and blocks the euphoric effects of opioids for 24
to 36 hours."

On Tuesday, Stemler said that even with hot-button issues such as
property-tax reform and local government restructuring facing the General
Assembly during its short session in 2008, he believes there will be a
re-writing of the state's methadone laws.

"It's affecting our entire state," said Stemler. "It's isn't just isolated
to Clark County. This is important enough, in terms of a safety issue, that
something will be done in this session."

As Moore did with his legal strategy, Stemler declined to provide specific
details relating to legislative plan, but said legislators have discussed
ideas ranging from the phasing out of Indiana's methadone clinics to
finding a mechanism to make it cost-prohibitive for out-of-state residents
to seek treatment in Indiana.

Methadone Facts

On Nov. 16, the National Drug Intelligence Center released the report
"Methadone Diversion, Abuse and Misuse: Deaths Increasing at Alarming
Rate." According to the report:

- - Annual methadone poisoning, or overdose, deaths increased from 786 in
1999 to 3,849 in 2004, or 390 percent.

- - During the same period, the number of deaths attributed to cocaine
overdoses increased 43 percent, from 3,822 to 5,461.

- - In 2001, nearly 1.9 million grams of methadone was distributed
legitimately in the U.S. -- by hospitals, pharmacies and doctors -- but by
2006 the amount had increased to 6.6 million grams.

- - Most methadone deaths are the result of methadone diverted from hospital,
pharmacies, practitioners, pain management physicians and, to a much lesser
extent, narcotics treatment programs and used in combinations with other
drugs and/or alcohol.

- - Some methadone deaths and nonfatal overdoses are the result of misuse of
legitimately prescribed methadone by individuals who may not have been
properly counseled by their physicians about the dangers of taking the drug
in ways other than those prescribed, including a combination with other
drugs and/or alcohol.

- - Between 1999 and 2004, West Virginia was the state with the highest
percentage increase in the number of methadone deaths, with an increase of
2,400 percent. Ohio ranked second at 1,650 percent and Kentucky ranked
fourth at 1,400 percent.