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White Christmas With A Bang 
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10 Reasons Santa Should Come To Town

By BONNIE ADAMS badams@leader.net
 Wednesday, December 25, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE - A Wyoming Valley Health Care System official said Tuesday
that the organization will increase public education about methadone treatment
as it continues searching for a building or land to construct a clinic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're keeping at it. It's more difficult than we had thought," said Joseph
Knecht, chief executive officer for behavior health services. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He cited local zoning ordinances and a 1999 state law for making it
difficult to find a suitable site for treating heroin addicts. Act 10
prohibits methadone clinics within 500 feet of schools, religious
institutions, playgrounds, parks, child-care centers and homes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There is concern about losing a state Department of Health Bureau of Drug
and Alcohol program that has committed $300,000 in critical start-up funds for
the proposed clinic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If we don't find a site within three months or so, that money really will
be in jeopardy," Knecht said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Those funds are in addition to the $100,000 that Luzerne County
Commissioners budgeted in 2001 for a clinic. "The county has been a big
proponent," Knecht said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Knecht said education is going to be a major task for the Wyoming Valley
Health Care System in the early part of next year. He said some members of the
public fear that a methadone clinic will attract users from outside the area
who will relocate here. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're really not going to let that happen," Knecht said. He said the
clinic will serve Northeastern Pennsylvania residents who must now travel
elsewhere for daily doses of methadone. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Choices, the system's private drug and alcohol treatment center in
Kingston, will run the outpatient methadone-to-abstinence clinic where heroin
addicts will receive lessening amounts of methadone. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "A clinic like this can save lives," Knecht said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Choices director Mary Martin said she has heard of four suspected heroin
overdose deaths in recent weeks. She said all were relatively young and she is
awaiting confirmation on what caused their deaths. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The state's recently released report on substance abuse treatment for
2001-2002 lists heroin as the second most popular drug of choice for those
seeking treatment in Luzerne County. The Bureau of Drug and Alcohol report
says 464 people sought treatment for heroin abuse, second only to 974 for
alcohol. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bonnie Adams, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7241. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Pressure On To Find Methadone Treatment Site 
Search Hampered By Zoning Laws Must End By Spring Or $300,000 In Start-up
Funds Could Be At Risk, Wyoming Valley Health Care Says.

Pressure On To Find Methadone Treatment Site Search Hampered By Zoning Laws Must End By Spring Or $300,000 In Start-up Funds Could Be At Risk, Wyoming Valley Health Care Says.