Methadone

The Rev. Milton E. Williams' op-ed regarding his intention to provide methadone to patients within 15 minutes of a request deserves careful scrutiny ("Methadone on demand: Baltimore needs a program for patients who are not prepared for full-scale treatment," July 11). Mr. Williams' campaign to define, serve and save us from "victims" sounds charismatic, bold and possibly very dangerous. The victims may have a champion, but the regulators will have their hands full. Frank E. Long

A Severn mother who, despite a poison center's admonition to get her son to a hospital immediately, waited until her child began having a seizure from sipping his father's methadone, was placed on three years' probation Friday. Kimberly Brooks, 28, feared a huge hospital bill and so waited to see if the condition of her five-year-old son, who had vomited, would improve - a decision that nearly cost the child his life last Sept. 4, Anne Arundel County prosecutor Sandra Howell told Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner.

I think it's fantastic that Rev. Milton Williams is sticking his neck out on behalf of addicts in Baltimore by proposing to open his clinic to more people in serious need of methadone treatment ("Pastor to open on-demand methadone clinic at church," June 24). One thing the article did not mention is that methadone does not make addicts high but reduces cravings that lead to drug-seeking behavior and crime. However, it's imperative that readers know that methadone is also a highly effective primary treatment for chronic pain.

The day after her ex-husband's funeral in January, Sabrina Lumpkin started calling every public official she could think of, trying to get someone to pay attention. Warren Lumpkin, 34, had died in a Southwest Baltimore house of heart complications related to using methadone, the prescription drug typically used to treat heroin addiction, according to an autopsy from the state medical examiner. But Sabrina Lumpkin said he had no such prescription - he took his roommate's methadone the night before he died.

Tired of the heroin and crime surrounding his Northeast Baltimore church and treatment center, the Rev. Milton Williams said Thursday that he plans to open the city's first "open access" clinic, which will hand out methadone within 15 minutes to any addict who walks through the door. Williams said defiantly that he will open the doors of his Turning Point clinic on North Avenue on July 5 to possibly 100-150 addicts a night — though he still lacks approval from state and federal regulators.

A Severn couple already facing drug and weapons charges after rescue workers and police were called to their house for a report that their child accidentally took methadone are now also under indictment on child abuse and neglect counts. Paul Kristopher Brooks Sr., and his wife, Kimberly Brooks, both 28, are facing 12-count indictments, that include child abuse, firearms and drug charges, a spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County prosecutors said Friday. All charges stem from an incident Sept.

A 28-year-old Severn man was arrested on multiple gun and drug charges Tuesday after paramedics responded to his home and found his 5-year-old son had ingested methadone, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Paul Kristopher Brooks, of the 1200 block of Reece Road, could also face child neglect charges, and charges are also pending against an additional, unidentified suspect, police said. Emergency personnel first responded to Brooks' home about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday after a 911 caller reported the boy was not breathing after accidentally ingesting the prescription narcotic and powerful liquid pain killer, police said.

Police testified Tuesday that a Severn man, whose 5-year-old son lost consciousness last September after drinking methadone that the father acknowledged buying, waited more than an hour after the boy initially became ill to call for help because he "was scared. " The remark came as the trial of Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, opened in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Brooks is facing child abuse and related charges. Three other charges in the case were dropped last month. In opening statements, defense attorney Peter S. O'Neill conceded neglect and "poor judgment," but said Brooks was not guilty of child abuse.

Most Marylanders who died from methadone-related overdoses between 2000 and 2002 were from outside Baltimore, and few were known to be in drug treatment programs at the time of their deaths, new research shows. The study by the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park did not explain the reason for the recent increase in methadone deaths and could not determine whether the drug was more likely to be obtained legally or illegally. But in reviewing the medical records of the 56 residents who died from 2000 through 2002, the researchers found that 16 percent were known to be in treatment programs in which they would be given methadone.

The mother of a 5-year-old girl who died Feb. 8 after drinking methadone was arrested at her West Baltimore home Monday night and charged yesterday with second-degree murder, police said.Jacquelyn Turner, 28, of the 900 block of Bennett Place had told police that her daughter had drunk a cupful of the drug the morning of Feb. 7, then complained of being sleepy. Police said the mother found the girl dead the next day.Agent Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a city police spokesman, said earlier this month that the methadone had been bought illegally on the street, and that the mother knew the girl had ingested the drug, but authorities were not notified.

A Severn father was found guilty of child neglect on Wednesday, but was acquitted of the most serious charge facing him - child abuse - in a case that stemmed from his 5-year-old son losing consciousness after drinking methadone. In a bench trial, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner found Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, guilty of seven charges, including drug possession, stemming from the September 2012 incident. Hackner said Brooks should have acted faster to get the child medical help when he began to get sick - but he noted that Brooks ultimately made the 911 call, according to a recording of the verdict.

A Severn couple already facing drug and weapons charges after rescue workers and police were called to their house for a report that their child accidentally took methadone are now also under indictment on child abuse and neglect counts. Paul Kristopher Brooks Sr., and his wife, Kimberly Brooks, both 28, are facing 12-count indictments, that include child abuse, firearms and drug charges, a spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County prosecutors said Friday. All charges stem from an incident Sept.

A 28-year-old Severn man was arrested on multiple gun and drug charges Tuesday after paramedics responded to his home and found his 5-year-old son had ingested methadone, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Paul Kristopher Brooks, of the 1200 block of Reece Road, could also face child neglect charges, and charges are also pending against an additional, unidentified suspect, police said. Emergency personnel first responded to Brooks' home about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday after a 911 caller reported the boy was not breathing after accidentally ingesting the prescription narcotic and powerful liquid pain killer, police said.

For many years, some Baltimore area neighborhood groups have fought strenuously against the addition of methadone clinics to their communities on the grounds that such facilities inevitably bring loiterers and traffic, depress property values and increase crime. Yet it may be time to take at least one of those objections off the list. A soon-to-be-published study that looked at incidents of crime in Baltimore over a two-year period found that the presence of a methadone clinic did not correlate with higher crime rates.

Methadone clinics are often seen as the bad neighbor nobody wants. Residents concerned about crime and other quality-of-life issues often protest if they even hear word of a methadone clinic, which treats those addicted to heroin and other opiates, is considering moving into the area. But drug-addiction specialists who say methadone is one of the most effective ways to treat opiate dependency are hoping a new study led by a University of Maryland School of Medicine assistant professor debunks concerns that the clinics breed crime and drag down neighborhoods.

A Northeast Baltimore clinic that once pitched on-demand methadone to desperate addicts during the late-night hours is focusing on a new idea — paying addicts to come in for treatment. "We are targeting a non-traditional population of addicts that isn't so interested in treatment," said the Rev. Milton Williams, who runs Turning Point Clinic, housed in his New Life Evangelical Baptist Church. "This will be an incentive. " The state has yet to approve the original on-demand, or "open access" idea, citing federal rules that require, for example, a lengthy examination of anyone getting methadone, a Schedule 2 narcotic.

A woman was ordered to serve five years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 16-month-old son, who ingested methadone given to him in a two-handled Mickey Mouse cup, the Harford County state's attorney said. Kelley Jean Briggs, 23, of Rosedale claimed responsibility for the toddler's death in December 2004, said Harford State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly. Briggs also had been facing second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse charges.

A registered pharmacist surrendered to federal drug enforcement officials in Harford County yesterday after being indicted on charges that he ran an unlicensed methadone clinic in Joppa.James E. Hodges, owner and program director of J & H Home Health Services of Harford County, was indicted this month on charges of distributing methadone and levomethadyl acetate hydrochloride, two drugs used to treat narcotics addiction.An investigation by agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maryland State Police led to allegations that about 100 clients were receiving the drugs daily from Hodges' business in the 600 block of Pulaski Highway in Joppa.

The Rev. Milton E. Williams' op-ed regarding his intention to provide methadone to patients within 15 minutes of a request deserves careful scrutiny ("Methadone on demand: Baltimore needs a program for patients who are not prepared for full-scale treatment," July 11). Mr. Williams' campaign to define, serve and save us from "victims" sounds charismatic, bold and possibly very dangerous. The victims may have a champion, but the regulators will have their hands full. Frank E. Long