WARREN, Maine — Neighbors of a proposed methadone clinic continued to plead their case that the site off Route 1 is a bad choice.
The public hearing before the Warren Planning Board lasted for nearly three hours Thursday night before the board decided to consider the plan at its next meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9.
The town and CRC Health Group have been locked in a battle since the fall of 2010 when the company sought to locate the methadone clinic in the former Warren Elementary School owned by the town. The group sued last year but that federal lawsuit is on hold pending the outcome of its application to locate the clinic at a building owned by Robert Emery at 1767 Atlantic Highway (Route 1).
The driveway to the clinic, however, would be located on Short Street and the neighbors said that would result in increased traffic in their residential neighborhood as people using the clinic would avoid trying to get out on busy Route 1.
Attorney James Strong represents several of the neighbors and argued before the board that the plan does not meet the requirements of the ordinance developed by the town. He noted the ordinance states that a clinic should be no closer than 500 feet from a residence if there is any reasonable alternative. He noted there are 45 residences within the 500-feet zone of the proposed clinic.
“This is blatantly an unreasonable request for a blatantly unreasonable accommodation,” Strong said.
Attorney Walter McKee, who represents CRC, said the company has done everything to minimize the impact on the community.
“If we were putting in a large day care center, how many people would be here?” he asked.
McKee said methadone is an accepted, successful treatment for people with opiate addictions. As such, he noted the Americans With Disabilities Act protects those patients.
“The ADA says you’re not allowed to discriminate. You can’t say you don’t want addicts in your community,” McKee said.
But the criticism of the project continued.
Strong said the location was an accident waiting to happen. He said traffic accidents also are becoming more prevalent with opiate treatment patients.
Strong also said town officials were trying to fast-track the project because of the threat of the federal lawsuit. The town has reached a tentative settlement in which the insurance company would pay CRC $320,000.
Resident Terry Walsh said he also objected to the location. He said people’s largest investment was their homes and he worried about the impact the clinic would have on their homes’ values.
He also pointed out that Warren does not have a police force.
Timothy Bohman, regional director for CRC Health Group, said the clinic will not have security personnel but that the staff is trained in de-escalating situations. He said that the company’s experience across the country has shown no need for security staff.
The clinic is proposed to be open from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturdays. Bohman said that most patients are working people and the early hours allow them to go to work and lead productive lives.
The clinic will have a staff of 17 to 20 and serve 250 to 300 people, the regional director said.
The clinic will not serve people who are intoxicated, those who require residential treatment services, nor people with extreme behavioral problems.
Wendy Mackenzie of Warren said she was concerned about not only traffic safety but increased vandalism.
“If this happens, I will no longer feel safe,” she said.
Bruce Larson said that it was clear the proposed clinic does not meet the town’s ordinance.
“We have an ordinance, it’s a good ordinance. This doesn’t fit with the ordinance. It’s pretty straight forward, black and white,” Larson said.
McKee said, however, that CRC has consistently maintained that the 500-foot restriction from residences was far too significant.
After the meeting, he said he got to hear the concerns of the residents.
Look at all the problems that came with the clinic in Rockland, and that is going to re-open. Why do we need 2 clinics within 5 miles of each other? Also I think some one can push on you ADA, ADA, and you get the feeling you have no choice but to roll over and give in. I have said it before and I’m saying it again, getting hooked on one drug to get off of another drug is stupid! I have seen the B.S. that went on in Rockland, the town of Warren does not need this circus on Rt.1 in their little town!
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There is an enormous difference in taking a medication legitimately prescribed to treat a medical condition, and abusing a drug.
For example, a patient in severe chronic pain can take an opioid pain medication and their life improves–they are able to move about, do some things for themselves, have a degree of physical comfort, and improved quality of life. That same drug, mis-used and abused, can cause chaos, ill health, legal problems, family problems, and decreases your quality of life.
In the case of methadone as used for addiction treatment, many long term opioid addicts have sustained permanent damage to the brain’s ability to produce endorphins (natural opiates). This causes severe depression, inability to feel pleasure or happiness, extreme irritability, physical exhaustion, etc and this often does NOT improve with time because the damage is many times permanent. Methadone–properly prescribed and taken, restores the brain chemistry to a normal balance. The patent feels normal–not high, not euphoric–normal. It does not cause impairment in stable, tolerant patients. WHile the patients are physically dependent, meaning they would have physical withdrawals if abruptly withdrawn, that is not the same thing as being “addicted”. Addiction iinvolves a set of behaviors as well as physical dependence–behaviors not present in stable methadone patients.
As for the ADA–the simple, unavoidable FACT is that you CANNOT zone methadone clinics any differently than any other medical or dental office. if you want to ban them to the outskirts of town, you must also do the same to all doctors and dentists. Towns waste bushels of money trying to get around this law, to no avail–only to find that the clinic patients were not the drooling, shambling monsters they feared after all.
Very well put Kerry and you make some very good points, especially your last sentence.
I personally go to a methadone clinic and I can tell you it is not nearly as bad as I had imagined it to be. Yes, there are some fools but you find that anywhere. For the most part everyone is there to better themselves and rid themselves of the behaviors associated with addiction.
I would also like to state that not everyone who relies on methadone clinics are low life, dead beats. I am a college graduate with a bachelors degree, having graduated in the top 15% in my class of over 3,000 students. As they say, addiction does not discriminate. I am very glad that there are methadone clinics and wish people would actually learn about how they work and not listen to the b.s. that people spread.
This is my second year going to a methadone clinic and I am now decreasing my dose in preparation for getting done with methadone. Contrary to what many uninformed people tell you, the choice to go up or down on your dose is totally up to you and at no time do the staff try to get you to increase…in fact it is quite the opposite. In order to go up you need to meet several criteria in proving that your current dose is not working. In order to go down all you need to do is ask and they will do so.
The public as a whole is wildly uninformed of how methadone clinics operate and the good that they do. Yes there are some bad seeds that go to these clinics, and it is these people that you hear about. How about the construction worker who gets his dose and goes to work everyday or the c.n.a. who works two jobs and goes to the clinic. You don’t hear much about these people but they are the ones who truly need these services.
Before spewing off comments that are totally off base and out of line maybe people should actually read about what a methadone clinic does and how they operate. The truth would surprise many and have them feeling more comfortable with a new clinic opening in their neighborhood.
Once again the point is missed. It is not that the town does not want a methadone clinic, it’s that a large facility is not suitable for that location. MANY other locations were discussed for the clinic, but CRC chooses not to pursue them. The heart of Warren is no place for such a business, regardless of type.
Free Drugs, Free Drugs, Get Your Free Drugs Here !
The state, We Taxpayers, provide “Free” taxi service anywhere for the addicts.
Wonder what the town of Warren is going to do when their taxes sktrocket due to the lawsuit? Their insurance company has paid their share, now it will be up to them. I don’t like it either, but it is the way life is in 2012.
To pay higher taxes because of law suit brought on by CRC will be a drop in the bucket compared to paying for a police force. Do the math.
You seem to be willing to turn a blind eye to this problem and accept it as “the way life is in 2012,” I guess that is because the clinic is not in your neighborhood
Close all the methadone clinics and send the junkies to stay with Lapage in the Blaine house.
I bet he could break them of the habit.
close all methadone clinics.
Spot zoning will result in a slam dunk lawsuit and damages for the clinic, thats the long and short of it. And the clinic will go through.
There is no “spot zoning”. Read the ordinance for yourself. It complies with all laws, and CRC agreed to abide by it to close the previous lawsuit, now they are threatening with another lawsuit on the grounds they don’t like the ordinance because it’s ‘unreasonable’.
I would urge these residents to stand their ground. The clinics in the Bangor area have done nothing but recruit addicts to the area and give them a gathering place to trade other drugs. I know people who have gone to the clinics and have been told first-hand what goes on. Yes, there are some who are actually trying to better themselves that have self-control, but they are few and far between. If they are actually trying to turn their lives around and are doing as well as they claim, they should be able to have “take-homes” and there would be no need to have a clinic on every corner.I would also like to point out that according to the federal defintion of “disabled,” alcoholism and addiction are NOT included. This lawsuit is a joke and the fact that the town is offering a settlement is just plain sad. The fact that tax-dollars are not only subsidizing these clinics but also often go to pay for cab rides, sometimes as far as 60 (or more) miles away, is ridiculous. Where does it end? A catch-22 has been created now because if the clinics that are open were to close, it would guarentee that the crime rate would skyrocket. There is no quick-fix or magical way for these people to get better by the masses. People need to stop thinking there is.
F.Y.I. Kelly those who have take homes still need a clinic to pick up their weekly dose, so what you are saying does not make any sense. I have had take homes for almost the entire time I have been taking methadone and I can tell you from going to a clinic for 2 years now that the majority of people there have take homes and are there for the right reasons. Again, there are some who abuse the system as well as abuse methadone…this is going to be the case with anything but those few are the ones who get all the attention.
As far as “self control” is concerned drug addiction has nothing to do with self control because addiction takes your control from you. If you read and understood any of the medical research done in the last 20-30 years you would understand that addiction is a disease. Some people have it and others don’t. This is why one person can take pain killers for a few weeks and stop with no problems, while another person can become extremely addicted during this same period. If more people understood this they would see that these clinics are a good overall solution, while far from perfect they certainly do more good than bad and help many people to get their lives back under control. I am grateful that I had the guts to go to a methadone clinic and turn my life around, as I had heard all of the horror stories from misinformed people like you.
I hope you do not see me as one of the number of the “misinformed.” I was given heavy-duty pain killers at a VERY early age and can say I am in the class of those who are pretty much subject to addiction. I believe in cold-turkey methods because I used them myself. I feel it is futile to substitute one thing for another. I believe that while these clinics put the support systems out there, you can only help those who want to be helped. Thes programs seem to attract those who do not care about helping themselves but those who want to make a dollar off others’ weaknessses. I think that close surveillance from an individual doctor is the only way to go.
I am insulted that drug addicts are put in the category of the disabled. This is an insult to all disabled people around the world.
Exactly!
Druggies Chose to do drugs on their own dime (or stolen from others).
They can Choose to get clean if they want a life back.
We don’t need to pay More for Their mistakes or lack of determination.
No comparison to telling a multiple amputee to “Get up and walk”.