DOWNTOWN METHADONE CLINIC MAY BE BLOCKED

FRAMINGHAM - Town officials say they may have found a way to keep Spectrum
Health Systems from opening a controversial methadone clinic downtown.

The clinic has been issued an occupancy permit for its Howard Street
location and the company has nearly completed renovations to the building
in the past three months. However, the clinic has not yet received a
required license from the state Department of Public Health to dispense
narcotics, according to Town Counsel Chris Petrini.

An unnamed town official said Spectrum neglected to complete a necessary
part of the permitting procedure which requires a public hearing.

Spectrum also has not received or asked for statements from key town
officials about what effect the clinic - which would treat people addicted
to heroin - would have on the community. This is a key part to the
narcotic-dispensing license, the official said.

Spectrum officials could not be reached for comment.

When asked if this lack of a license could give the town a way to block the
clinic, Selectman Ginger Esty said, "To my unpracticed eye, yes. I think
it's very important that everybody learn more about that."

Esty said restrictions about executive session discussions from the Board
of Selectmen prevented her from saying more.

The town has already lost a case challenging the legitimacy of the clinic
being an educational facility under definitions of the Dover Amendment. The
amendment allows the clinic to open in areas contradictory to local zoning
laws.

The town is appealing another case lost to Spectrum regarding the question
of whether there is adequate parking for the clinic.

The town has been fighting a proposal from Spectrum, which operates similar
drug treatment clinics in Worcester and Milford, since 1997.

Spectrum officials have said they want to open a clinic in Framingham - one
that would include dispensing liquid methadone on a daily basis to clients
- - because of easy access to public transportation and because it already
has a population of heroin addicts needing help.

About one-third of the clients using the clinic in Milford are from
Framingham, Spectrum officials have said.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate given to heroin addicts to help them fight
cravings for illegal drugs. Some addicts are kept on methadone for their
entire lives while others are weaned off the treatment.

Supporters of the treatment program say it allows addicts to lead
productive lives.

The proposed clinic on Howard Street, which would include drug counseling
and medical screenings in addition to dispensing methadone, would serve
about 100 people, company officials have said.

Town Meeting member Lawrence Schmeidler and his organization FIMBY
(Framingham is My Backyard) oppose the clinic. They say the clinic would
destroy hopes of revitalizing downtown and would bring a new criminal
element to the community.

Schmeidler and FIMBY have tried to get the town to seek a federal lawsuit
against Spectrum, alleging the clinic would be wrongly dispensing narcotics
under the guise of being an educational facility.

However, Petrini wrote in a brief to selectmen this week that Schmeidler's
proposal would not work because the town has already tried that argument at
the state court level.

"In view of the fact that the town has raised the arguments suggested by
Mr. Schmeidler from the outset, filing a new federal lawsuit is not
warranted or an efficient use of resources because a federal court would
not entertain these arguments a second time," Petrini wrote.

Schmeidler and others have said that the town has not fought the clinic
hard enough nor spent enough money on the battle. Schmeidler told Town
Meeting last year that the town had only spent $5,000.

Actually, the town has spent more than $30,000 fighting Spectrum.

But this latest issue involving the license for dispensing narcotics may
open a new round of litigation against Spectrum, an unnamed town official
said, taking the town on a legal path it has not yet trod.

The town is waiting for DPH records about information Spectrum submitted
for its narcotics dispensing license. If that application is incomplete,
the town will have a new way to either stop or delay the opening of the
clinic, the official said.