lilgirllost Admin
Number of posts : 863 Age : 51 Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids Humor : I don't have a sense of humor............. Registration date : 2009-05-25
| Subject: Idea Of Methadone Clinic In Thompsonville Is Rejected Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:37 am | |
| This comes from the Hartford Courant in Conneticut http://articles.courant.com/2010-03-18/community/hc-enfield-methadone-clinic-031.artmar18_1_methadone-clinic-hartford-dispensary-thompsonville
Moderator comments are in red.
THOMPSONVILLE
March 18, 2010|By SHAWN R. BEALS, The Hartford Courant
Idea Of Methadone Clinic In Thompsonville Is Rejected
ENFIELD — — The board of the North Central District Health Department voted Wednesday to kill the idea of a potential methadone clinic in the Thompsonville section.
The Hartford Dispensary, a substance-abuse clinic, recently explored the possibility of placing a facility at the health department's North Main Street office.
On Monday, when town council members learned about the plan, they argued that it could undermine Thompsonville revitalization efforts.
In a letter to the health department, Hartford Dispensary Executive Director Paul McLaughlin said his clinic treats about 100 people from the Enfield area for narcotic addictions.
But Deputy Mayor Ken Nelson was not swayed, saying Thursday that a clinic "would have been a huge step in the wrong direction. I don't want to make things convenient for drug addicts, I want to make things convenient for the people who actually work and live in Thompsonville." WHO does this guy think the methadone clinic is serving????? PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND WORK IN THOMPSONVILLE! With pain pill addiction on the rise it is the average person who needs MMT now. Another pefect example of misinformed public making a decision when they have inaccurate or NO info at all.
Bill Blitz, director of health for the department, said it never planned to host a methadone clinic. He said a dispensary representative "came to us unannounced in December" asking if a facility to treat Enfield residents would be possible.
"It really wasn't our thing so we didn't do anything about it," Blitz said Thursday. "We think we're helping Thompsonville, and we want to be a stable influence here in Thompsonville."
When Town Manager Matthew Coppler informed the council Monday about the idea of a partnership between the health department and the methadone clinic, council members again raised the possibility — discussed in late 2009 — about withdrawing from the department. At the time, council members expressed dissatisfaction with the department's customer service.
Nelson said that he thinks the dispensary will continue to look for an Enfield clinic location and that he and others would continue to fight it.
"A lot of local groups joined together. It's time we take our town back," Nelson said. Voices for Thompsonville, a community group, and state Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, also wrote to the health district opposing the facility. | |
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