Methadone

There is a desperate and obvious need to re-create what methadone treatment for heroin addicts is: its purpose, practice and availability. Simply put, since the time methadone programs were created many decades ago, the nature of the beast - heroin addiction - has changed. One might ask, "Surely it means the same thing to be addicted to heroin today as it did, say, 50 years ago?" True, the nature of addiction itself has not changed; but almost every other aspect of the problem has. Crime, social consequences, prevalence in Baltimore, cost of the drug, social acceptance in ghetto areas: All these things are very different today than when methadone treatment programs, and the policies and practices surrounding them, were inaugurated long ago. If we are going to address this city's problems caused by heroin addiction, then it is going to require something qualitatively different than mere evolutionary changes in methadone treatment.

The operators of a proposed "open access" methadone clinic for heroin addicts, which promised treatment within 15 minutes, say they will delay the launch by 30 days to work out differences with state regulators. The clinic was to open July 5 from 6 p.m. to midnight, but state health officials said Turning Point in Northeast Baltimore did not have approvals and would possibly violate federal laws by skirting some examination requirements for drug treatment. The Rev. Milton E. Williams, president and the architect of the new clinic, had proposed the treatment scheme after becoming tired of the drugs and crime surrounding his church, which houses the new evening clinic and a conventional day-time one. The existing clinic also was cited for having an insufficient number of counselors and can't accept new addicts until it is re-inspected.

Baltimore City has long held the unfortunate title of "U.S. heroin capital. " Over the years, many people inside and outside of Baltimore have chosen to promulgate this unofficial designation when reporting on or portraying Baltimore's challenges with drugs, addiction and the residual effects of high crime, violence and other social ills. Baltimore, like many urban jurisdictions across the country, has suffered and continues to suffer tremendously from the consequences of illegal drugs flowing into our city.

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.

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.

Baltimore County — and specifically, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz — declared victory in a long-fought legal battle this week over whether a methadone clinic could operate in a residential area just north of the city line in Pikesville. It is a victory in that methadone clinics, just like any other business, are a good fit in some areas and not in others, and it would have been unreasonable if the Americans with Disabilities Act prevented the county or other local governments from exercising any control over where one is located.

A methadone clinic operating in Pikesville since 2002 will have to move within a year after dropping its eight-year challenge to a Baltimore County law that sets a boundary between such treatment centers and residential neighborhoods. A Helping Hand, which had been renting space at 116 Slade Ave., has until June 2011 to comply with county law setting the 750-foot buffer zone, and it will not pursue claims for lawyers' fees and court costs that one county official said reached about $2.5 million.

Don't look now, but if the current medical marijuana legislation is passed, a local pot dispensary could end up in your neighborhood ("Md. fights through haze over medical marijuana," Jan. 31). Those supporting the legislation promise to set up tight restrictions on the placement of these dispensaries, but as we have seen with the increased numbers of liquor licenses and methadone clinics, the government has a pretty poor track record in protecting our communities, especially our children.

Drugs, I am told, are the main cause of crime in Baltimore. Not only are they responsible for much of the theft and burglary, but they are connected to most of the killings as well. Tens of thousands of people in the city are addicted to narcotics such as heroin and crack cocaine. They buy their fixes from dealers in open-air drug markets such as the busy one I walked past yesterday at the corner of Park Heights Avenue and Cold Spring Lane in West Baltimore. As well as the many drug dealers on that corner, there is also a building that is home to the "I Can't We Can" rehabilitation program.

Lisa Pulley's fourth daughter was born last week. She put the first three up for adoption long ago because she couldn't - really, wouldn't - stop using crack cocaine and heroin long enough to focus on them. n The eighth-grade dropout has never held a job. She has been too busy selling sex for drugs, living on the street so she could afford drugs. There was no room in her life for children. But this time, Pulley swears, she is ready. This time, she keeps telling herself, will be different.