PUBLIC REACTION WEIGHS AGAINST PROPOSED METHADONE CLINIC SITE IN DOWNTOWN
JOHNSON CITY

JONESBOROUGH - Some 25 people turned out at a public hearing Friday night
to voice opinion on a proposed methadone treatment clinic in downtown
Johnson City.

Steven Taylor, a Tennessee Department of Health representative who serves
as a liaison to the state Health Facilities Commission, attended the
meeting to record comment.

The HFC will discuss in Nashville on June 26 a certificate of need
application filed by the company that intends to establish a clinic in
Johnson City.

Public comment for and against the clinic will be accepted at that meeting.

Methadone itself is a Schedule II drug, which places it in the same
category as morphine. It is used to wean addicts off heroin and other
opium-based illegal drugs.

A medical group out of Nashville under the management of Dr. Steven Ritchie
has applied to open the Johnson City Addiction Research and Treatment
Center - a non-residential methadone treatment facility - at 200 W.
Fairview Ave. in Johnson City. It is projected to serve 250 people in its
first two years of operation.

Of the 17 people who spoke at Friday's hearing, 12 were opposed to the
clinic, while five supported its establishment.

One of those who spoke against the clinic was a recovered opiate addict who
said methadone only perpetuates the problem.

"Addiction is one of the most miserable states a person can be in," said
Lisa Mullins. "To open a methadone clinic is to make legal drug addicts."

Most of those at the meeting who spoke against the clinic protested its
proposed location, not methadone treatment itself.

"Very few people are directly opposed to methadone treatment," said Roger
Hausmann, who spoke on behalf of a group trying to revitalize downtown
Johnson City.

"We really don't want to deny (addicts) the help and assistance this
company can provide. Downtown Johnson City is a patient itself on its way
to recovery. The location of a clinic in that area would be a major blow to
development," he said.

Hausmann and several others who spoke against the clinic's proposed
location near the Johnson City Public Library, St. John's Episcopal Church
and the Asbury Center assisted-living facility suggested the clinic try to
locate in the MedTech corridor, an area they said was zoned for medical
services.

City Manager Mike West and Doug Varney, president and chief executive
officer of Frontier Health, each said the entities they represent were
opposed to the clinic.

Varney said Frontier Health has filed a letter of opposition with the HFC
and intends to testify at the meeting in Nashville.

Other opponents said crime in the downtown area would increase as a result
of the clinic.

However, Donna Gobble from Hampton, a recovered addict who uses methadone,
said clinics are professionally staffed facilities that don't allow
patients a second chance. If a patient tests positive for illegal drugs, he
or she is kicked out of the program, she said.

Gobble said there is a tremendous need for a clinic in East Tennessee, as
those who want the treatment have to drive to Asheville, N.C., Knoxville or
Chattanooga.

"I know you're scared, but wake up. It's not going to get any better," she
told the crowd. "Just give it a chance. Don't you think everybody else is
tired of Northeast Tennessee's addicts?"

Jim Blevins, a retired police officer and father of a heroin addict, said
those seeking treatment need another option.

Blevins said his son returned home from the Navy addicted to drugs and
tried several treatment programs, only to find success through a methadone
clinic in Chattanooga.

"People are afraid of what they don't understand. They think if they just
don't think about it, it will go away. Well, it won't," he said.

Blevins said it was important to base any opinion about methadone on fact
rather than hearsay or religious convictions.

"I feel like the community needs to offer something more than what's
available," he said.

The public hearing was held at the Jonesborough Visitors Center to better
accommodate a large crowd. Taylor said the last public hearing he attended
concerning a methadone clinic was attended by almost 250 people.

Taylor complimented Friday's crowd, saying it was the most orderly,
respectful meeting he'd attended in three years.

Some who attended Friday's meeting said more people would have attended,
but a festival in downtown Johnson City and other weekend activities kept
them away.

Taylor said the meeting's time was selected from a list of options he
provided county leaders.

Public comment can still be submitted to the HFC. Fax comments to
(615)532-7904.

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Times-News.

Published June 14, 2002