AUGUSTA – The House and Senate have passed a bill drafted by officials from Norway, Paris and Oxford that will give towns some sway in licensing methadone clinics.
“This was the one we all worked out,” Director Kimberly Johnson of Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse said about the resolve, LD 1875, Thursday. Her office regulates substance abuse clinics. “Everyone was in agreement.”
“Yeah, it’ll help,” said Ferg Lea of Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments. Lea helped write the new legislation. “Will it take care of all the issues? No.”
The proposal, which awaits the governor’s signature, would require: increased counseling for new patients, a local public hearing, and a longterm study to determine the need for a clinic in a particular area. Methadone is given to those addicted to heroine and other opioids to help wean them off drugs.
The Office of Substance Abuse negotiated with the Oxford Hills group, as well as the Health and Human Services legislative committee, to add requirements for clinics that dispense methadone.
Local officials drafted a bill after Discovery House, a for-profit methadone treatment agency, scouted out Oxford Hills last year for a new clinic. The possibility raised red flags in the area about unknown side effects – like possible increased drug trafficking or traffic jams during operating hours – that this type of business could generate.
The officials’ intention was to give municipalities more oversight of a clinic. But the Office of Substance Abuse wanted to ensure that the state did not impose so many regulations on clinics that their costs went up or it became difficult to open and operate in Maine.
In the end, the proposal the two parties agreed on, which was passed by the Senate Thursday, will add three more rules to licensing requirements.
Nancy Moore, program director of the Discovery House in Waterville, said the rules will not be a burden for the agency, which runs three clinics in Maine.
Moore said local resistance to methadone facilities is part of a learning curve. “While there is certainly some opposition, a lot of it is that folks have never been exposed to this field.” She added that with education, people can learn to accept drug treatment as part of a community. “We don’t bring drug addiction to the area, we bring treatment to the area where drug addiction already exists.”
The new rules include increasing counseling for new patients and tapering this support for longtime users.
The second rule asks for public input, such as holding a public hearing for a proposed facility. Also, Johnson said every two years clinics’ licenses are up for renewal, and that the Office of Substance Abuse will likely invite locals to send it letters with their opinions.
Finally, the bill requires that a longterm analysis on the need for a methadone clinic in a specific spot be completed before a clinic is permitted there.
Johnson said there is no need now for a methadone clinic in the Oxford Hills, but that this could change as widespread drug addiction can sweep through areas unexpectedly.
She added, though, that Maine does require more than the six clinics it has. The areas currently underserved are Lewiston-Auburn, the mid-coast area in Waldo County, and southern Maine.
Lea said that the proposal has improved the dialogue on this issue between towns and the state. “I think they learned something about how they need to communicate with municipalities if they’re going to open clinics.”
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