ADDICTION CLINIC CLOSING DOORS

Unable to find a suitable new home, officials with Second Chance
Recovery methadone clinic have decided to close its doors when their
lease runs out in just over two months.

The group was looking to move the clinic, which services 500 clients
recovering from opiate addictions, since finding out their current
home in the Greenview Industrial Park isn't licensed for medical use,
but that has proven too difficult.

"The individuals behind Second Chance have concluded that the cost of
trying to overcome the political bigotry in Calgary is beyond their
capabilities; either emotionally or financially," said lawyer Hugh
Ham, who represents the group.

"The city and province are the only parties with the resources to
deal with the crisis."

Executive director Bill Leslie was given a list of 150 sites licensed
for medical use by the city, but he said finding a landlord willing
to house a methadone clinic has been an uphill battle.

"And we're not going to win it," he said. "I can only take so much of
this. It reaches a point where, is it worth it?"

The Greenview location is one of three clinics Leslie finances and
runs in Alberta -- along with one in Red Deer and another in Medicine
Hat -- and said this is the only city where there is opposition.

"I've been doing this for 16 years and I've never run into
(opposition) like this in my life," he said.

"Even the superintendent of the RCMP in Red Deer went public in the
newspaper and said since the clinic has opened, crime has dropped.

"We've been there seven years and don't have any problems at all."

Some have suggested re-zoning the current location from industrial to
medical, but Leslie said that option is too pricey.

"You're talking $130,000 to change the zoning, that's what it would
cost the owner of the building and it's just not worth it," he said.

"It's way too much."

Leslie said the province will take over care of the 500 clients,
likely through the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission program
at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre, which already serves 300 clients.

Leslie said he was told by the provincial health authority that it
will take up to six months to transfer Second Chance patients there,
leaving a potential three-month window.

"The health region is going to have to put their plans in place a
little faster," he said.

And Ham worries about the potential fallout.

Should the clinic close, Ham said that would send its 500 clients out
on the streets and possibly back to the drugs they're trying to kick.

"If 500 people hit the system all at once, emergency rooms, doctors
offices and every pharmacy that carries opiates of any form are going
to be at a high risk," he said.

"Of those 500 people, a percentage of them are going to make really
stupid decisions.

"People who want a fix do not make intelligent decisions."