Legislators seek more controls on drug clinics Rockland experience spurs drive

ROCKLAND – With methadone clinics popping up across the state, legislators are seeking tighter control on operations of clinics and where they are located.

In Rockland, Turning Tide Inc. created a wave of opposition when word got out it wanted to open a clinic at the gateway to the city.

Since then, city councilors have altered the clinic owners’ plans by changing an ordinance definition, as well as zoning, so that methadone clinics are now “sole source pharmacies” and are only allowed on Route 90 – a relatively remote part of the city.

The City Council will consider a zone change tonight that would permit Turning Tide to open a clinic at the Route 1 site of the former Tuttle’s Shoe Barn. If defeated, the city likely will face litigation, given that Turning Tide has presented Rockland officials with a “draft” lawsuit.

The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. in council chambers in city hall.

Rep. Edward Mazurek, D-Rockland, has sponsored LD 21, which is “An Act to Enhance Community Involvement regarding Methadone Clinics,” and has co-sponsored LD 519, “An Act to Strengthen the Laws Concerning Methadone Clinics,” sponsored by Rep. Michael Dunn, D-Bangor.

“The purpose of the bill is not to prohibit [methadone clinics] at all,” Mazurek said Saturday, referring to LD 21, but rather to “give the community a little ownership in this process.”

Mazurek submitted his bill to avoid the type of discontent and protest that erupted when Turning Tide’s plans took residents by surprise, he said. “People were just hit between the eyes.”

LD 21 would require the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt annual performance standards and clinics to comply with those standards throughout their licensure. It also would require a public hearing before a business is licensed and prohibit a clinic from opening within 2,000 feet of a licensed child care facility or a school.

Mazurek’s bill has been referred to the Health and Human Services Committee by the House and Senate, but has not been scheduled for a public hearing.

In Bangor, where a second methadone clinic has been proposed, a House representative has sponsored LD 519, which would, beginning Jan. 1, 2006, require an applicant for initial licensure of a methadone clinic to undergo a criminal record or background check, to submit a business and treatment plan for the clinic that includes continuing counseling for clients and to be issued a certificate of need.

Dunn’s bill has been through the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, and referred to the Health and Human Services Committee by the House and Senate.