By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – City leaders moved Tuesday night to make sure Lewiston doesn’t become associated with heroin addiction treatment.

City leaders put a six-month moratorium on any methadone clinics in the city limits. City Administrator Jim Bennett said he wasn’t aware of any plans to put a methadone treatment center in Lewiston, but he has heard rumors.

“Over the last two years, both (Police Chief William Welch) and I have been approached by groups a half-dozen times or so,” Bennett said Tuesday. “Each time, we tell them the same thing. We don’t think it’s much of an issue here.”

Methadone is used to treat addiction to opioid drugs, like heroin or OxyContin. Lewiston does not have a problem with heroin addiction and related arrests, Bennett said.

“Based on what our officers hear, based on the intelligence that comes into our department, the problem is not there,” he said. “I think that groups that do that kind of thing might be looking to tie up some property here in case it does become a problem.”

The move gives the city 180 days to look over city zoning codes and determine where in the the city the drug treatment centers can be located.

“It’s not a permanent ban,” Bennett said. “It just gives us a chance to go through our public process – the Planning Board, public comment and City Council – and make sense of it.”