METHADONE CLINIC THREATENS TO CLOSE DOORS

It Can't Afford To Fight City Hall, Lawyer Says

The lawyer for a methadone clinic searching for a new home says it
will close its doors rather than fight city hall.

Hugh Ham, who represents Second Chance Recovery, which has to be out
of its northeast industrial location in less than three months, said
it's no longer looking for a new site.

"There's no point," Ham said. "We're not looking for anything else.
It gets closed. They can't afford to fight city hall."

However, Alberta Health Services said it has not been notified the
clinic has decided to shut down.

"We are making contingency plans in the event Second Chance Recovery
closes its doors permanently.However, we have not received notice
that this will be the case," Barry Andres, with addiction and mental
health services, said in an e-mail.

Second Chance has 500 clients who receive methadone to treat
addiction to opiates such as heroin and morphine.

Graham Larking, an OxyContin and morphine addict who receives
methadone at a Beltline facility, believes people will die if Second
Chance closes.

"I sure shed a tear for them," said Larking, who has been on
methadone for four months. "I don't know what I'd do if they pulled
that rug out."

Larking said he's gone from being "borderline suicidal" to "feeling
pretty darn good" since starting treatment.

Ham said misconceptions are thwarting attempts to relocate the
clinic. He said clients receiving methadone are better citizens--they
can't get drunk or get high, and are able to maintain employment.

Second Chance has to move from its home in Greenview because the
industrial area isn't zoned for a medical clinic, and nearby
residents complained. The subdivision and development appeal board
decided the clinic can stay at 327 41st St. N. E. until the end of
June while it finds a new home, with the option of a three-month extension.

But Ham said opposition makes finding a new site difficult. A
pro-posed Forest Lawn site provoked area Ald. Andre Chabot to object.

While the city has given Second Chance a list of locations zoned for
a clinic, Ham said "what I really need is a list of those aldermen
that would like a methadone clinic in their ward. The moment someone
gives me that list, I can do something."

Chabot, who said he didn't like the Forest Lawn strip mall location
because there is a day care there, questions the motive behind saying
the clinic will shut.

"I think they're trying to do a little bit of fearmongering,"Chabot
said, adding he has suggested a more acceptable location.

The Ward 10 alderman said he believes the clinic either doesn't want
to continue, is not profitable or"they're using this as a segue for
greater acceptance from the public."

Ham said if the clinic closes, the program at the Sheldon Chumir
Centre, which has 300 clients, will need to create a second shift to
handle the influx of new outpatients.He added there is a waiting list
to access the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission program.