FOUR METHADONE DISPENSARIES SUING THE CITY OF SURREY

Four methadone dispensaries are suing the city for what they feel is a
"discriminatory" hike in business licence fees.

Last October, the City of Surrey raised the annual cost of licences for
methadone "dispensaries" from $195 to $10,000 to help defray policing and
bylaw costs associated with the storefronts.

The city was roundly criticized by members of the medical community and the
B.C. Pharmacy Association, who equated it to "a time when we locked up
epileptics."

City solicitor Craig MacFarlane confirmed Thursday that four of the
dispensaries have launched legal action.

"They're just challenging the bylaw," said MacFarlane. "I guess they're
alleging that methadone users are being unfairly treated."

A methadone dispensary is described under Surrey's bylaw as "the business
of selling or filling methadone prescriptions for customers as the primary
purpose ..."

About four such enterprises exist between 104 and 108 Avenues near King
George Hwy.

"These businesses have proliferated to an unacceptable level of
concentration in the Whalley City Centre neighbourhood, contributing to its
social and economic stress," MacFarlane wrote in a report to council in
October.

Methadone is a drug used to treat heroin withdrawal symptoms, and is
sometimes prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain.

City officials say they're only targeting dispensaries, noting that
methadone patients can get their medicine at more than 20 other pharmacies
in Surrey.

At Leader press time, MacFarlane could not say which pharmacies were suing
the city, but Care Point Pharmacy and Priority Drugs are believed be two of
them.