Methadone clinic proposal worries parents
Doctor who has long prescribed the treatment defends plans for business near Mississauga school
Mississauga mother Penny Snowdon appreciates the need for addiction services, but doesn’t understand the logic behind a proposal to locate a methadone clinic next to an elementary school. She is among a growing chorus of parents of students from St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre who are protesting a proposal to open a clinic in a strip mall that backs onto the school. “These types of services are needed, I don’t deny that. It’s the proximity to young children that I’m concerned about,” she said, adding that she is worried discarded needles or drugs could find their way into the schoolyard. City of Mississauga spokeswoman Ann LehmanAllison confirmed an application had been made to open a methadone clinic at 348 Lakeshore Rd. E.
Any new businesses wanting to open in Mississauga must apply for a zoning certificate of occupancy.
Lehman-Allison said the proposed site for the clinic does not have enough parking spaces, so the application could end up at the city’s committee of adjustment.
A letter to parents from the school council on Monday urges them to contact local politicians in the hopes of scuppering the plan.
“We strongly feel this is not providing our children with a safe and healthy environment for them to learn and play,” states the letter.
“While generally considered successful as a treatment method, the use of this maintenance treatment is often viewed as controversial,” it continues.
Dr. Phil Berger, who has been prescribing methadone in his family practice since 1991, said the concerns are misplaced.
“I’m sure they are good neighbours and caring people, but sometimes fear arises out of being uninformed and misinformed, and this is an example of it,” he said.
Methadone has a long history of success in treating opioid dependency, said Berger, who took exception to the parent council assertion that it is controversial.
“It is not viewed by anybody who is minimally informed as a controversial treatment,” said Berger, who teaches at the University of Toronto medical school, where he was recently appointed faculty lead for health advocacy.
“There have been studies on methadone since1965 that show it is beneficial in reducing crime, achieving socioeconomic stability for addicts, reducing spread of infectious diseases and welcoming people into the health-care system once they are connected to physicians and a health-care team,” he said.
The fact that there is a proposal to open a clinic in the area is indicative of a need for the service there, he added.
“There are addicts in Mississauga. Would they rather have the addicts leave used needles in the back lanes of their neighbourhoods, or would they rather have them stable on methadone and not using drugs anymore?” he asked.
But parent Liz Battaglia said there is another methadone clinic nearby and questioned the need for two.
She said there is a bylaw that prevents certain businesses from setting up in areas where there are lots of children — including strip joints and adult video stores — and she wonders why methadone clinics are not on that list.
The school, which offers the prestigious international baccalaureate primary years program, just opened in September.
Parent Greg Wesierski decided to move his two daughters there even though it is farther from his home than their former school.
“We brought the kids into this school because we wanted a better school for them, and now this is going to open up there and it’s not too good. . . . This is a choice school,” he said.