Methadone clinics could be banned

INDIANAPOLIS – New methadone clinics would be banned temporarily in Indiana under legislation that passed through the House on Monday.\nThe House voted 90-8 for the bill, which would place a moratorium on new clinics through Dec. 31, 2008, while the state studies whether further regulations on them are sufficient.\nThe Senate approved the bill unanimously earlier this session, but the moratorium in it was open-ended. Because the House amended the bill with an ending date, the legislation must return to the Senate for consideration.\nBut Democratic Sen. Connie Sipes of New Albany, who authored the bill in the Senate, said she likely will ask her colleagues to simply concur with the changes and send the bill to Gov. Mitch Daniels to consider.\nIndiana has 13 clinics that administer methadone, a synthetic opiate that eases withdrawal pain for users of heroin or prescription painkillers such as OxyContin. The state approved two more clinics last year – one in Valparaiso, Ind., and one in Indianapolis – after lawmakers partially lifted a previous moratorium that had banned new clinics for at least 10 years.\nMost of the existing clinics, including one in Jeffersonville, Ind., are along the state’s borders. Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, has said that is because some states, particularly Kentucky, regulate the facilities more strictly.\nStemler said the state should step back before considering requests to locate more methadone clinics here and determine whether Indiana regulations are too lax.\nOf the nearly 10,000 patients served by Indiana’s methadone centers in 2005, nearly half were from other states.\n“Let us just find out ... why people travel so far to get this treatment,” Stemler said Monday.\nThe state’s Family and Social Services Administration supports the bill. It will require the agency to review its methadone regulations, study those in other states and submit a report to the legislative Health Finance Commission this summer.