Methadone clinics belong in hospitals

There are reasons for residents to be concerned about the people who come to the foundation for treatment.

There is a problem in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven that calls attention to methadone clinics that are popping up in residential neighborhoods across Connecticut — and why they are met with resistance from residents.

Police are being bombarded with calls from residents who are concerned there are too many people hanging around 495 Congress Ave., where a treatment center for substance abuse addiction is run by the APT Foundation.

The APT Foundation is one of 26 medication assisted treatment centers in Connecticut that prescribe methadone, according to the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. And there are plenty of reasons for residents to be concerned — and uneasy — about the people who come to the foundation for treatment.

According to police, they have received numerous reports of people urinating in the area, performing sexual acts, or doing drugs on neighboring streets and on private property. This type of behavior is offensive to adults, let alone impressionable children in the community.

Assistant Police Chief Achilles Generoso said complaints are constant and the problem is so acute that “It’s madness sometimes out there.” It is estimated that more than 500 people every day travel to the Elm City from other municipalities for methadone treatment on Congress Avenue. That has “unfortunate collateral damage” for the city, Generoso said.

Down the street from the clinic is John C. Daniels School, where some staff members are concerned about the proximity to the treatment center and also the large groups of people usually gathered there.

This is a major problem that must be corrected immediately — and it must be corrected by the ATP Foundation.

According to Lynn Madden, president and chief executive officer of the The APT Foundation, she has met many times with the city and representatives of the police department about their concerns. A new center is set to open this summer in West Haven and she estimates several hundred people will be diverted from the Congress Avenue location to that one.

Maybe so, but the people in West Haven have also been very vocal that they, too, don’t want a methadone clinic in their neighborhood. It’s the same in Torrington, where they don’t want the one that was approved there either.

We don’t blame them and agree it is a good idea to rethink where these clinics are located.

Nobody disputes methadone clinics are needed to help recovering addicts but it is a question as to why these clinics need to be located in residential areas where children abound and an atmosphere of unease settles over parents and other residents.

Madden said “being able to find substance abuse treatment close to where you live has been directly linked to recovery.”

But the National Institute on Drug Abuse classifies drug addiction as a mental illness “because addiction changes the brain in fundamental ways, disturbing a person’s normal hierarchy of needs and desires” and notes it should be treated like a disease.

Which is why a better solution for methadone clinics is to relocate them into hospitals and clinics where addicts can receive treatment for their addictions just like people are treated for other forms of medical illness.

This would be a good thing that would benefit all concerned.

Many recovering addicts say they are concerned with the stigma of being classified as an addict and travel to other towns or cities for medication.

In a hospital or clinic setting, they could walk amongst people being treated for a variety of illnesses and not be singled out — like it is at Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown.

Lt. Jason Minardi, the police district manager for the area, said he has increased his presence and also has put as many officers in the area as possible.

But police have enough to worry about without having to take on the responsibility of dealing with some recovering addicts at their place of treatment.

It is time serious consideration is given to putting these methadone clinics into medical facilities and not in residential neighborhoods where many of their clients are causing problems and making residents jittery.