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City To Move Forward With Methadone, Suboxone Regulation

By Joe Durwin
Special to iBerkshires
04:26PM / Friday, February 10, 2012

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Editor's Note: An important phrase in the lede was accidently deleted during the editing process that changed the tone of the article. It has been reinserted in italics.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board agreed Tuesday to draft a zoning amendment prohibiting methadone and Suboxone clinics in key downtown areas.

The board, acting as a petitioner, will craft the amendment, which will later go to the City Council, in the wake of Spectrum Health Services being denied a permit to open a treatment clinic on Summer Street last year.

The Spectrum case is still being battled in court and this change would have no effect on the outcome of that suit. In late 2011, Ward 6 Councilor John Krol began seeking ways to prohibit the opening of new opiate treatment clinics in the downtown area.

"I think it's important to send a clear message, and that we do move forward in a timely manner, and make clear the city's perspective on this," Krol said on Tuesday.

Board member Alfred "Alf" Barbalunga asked about any such opiate treatment centers already operating in the city such as the downtown Suboxone clinic Experience Wellness and if such an amendment to the zoning ordinance would effect them. Community Development Director Deanna Ruffer said this would only have an impact on such existing medical practices if they chose to relocate.

Ruffer said the amendment would close loopholes that came to light in the current suit against the city, in which Spectrum Health and its attorneys maintain that as an educational business, their proposed office is exempt from certain zoning requirements.

"It has been the experience of other communities that by explicitly regulating such clinics you significantly narrow if not eliminate that argument," Ruffer said.

Staff of the Community Development department is now expected to draft a document for review by the board at a future public hearing. Any recommendation from that body will then go before the City Council for final hearing. The proposed change to the zoning ordinance would require a super majority of eight out of eleven council members

Related story:
Pittsfield Addiction Expert Weighs In On Opiate Treatment

Tags: clinics, methadone, Suboxone,

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Out of sight, out of mind. No problems in sunny perfect Pittsfield. "Those people" are actually still people, and they're sick, and this is not a very Christian attitude the good people of Pittsfield are showing.
from: acer	on: 02-10-2012 06:27PM I Agree (20) - I Disagree (9)

I find it somewhat comical that Ruberto, et al, didn't even know that there was already a suboxone clinic on North Street! And I agree - these people are people who need help -- it's not as though North Street is this whistle clean artsy place -- I won't walk down North Street after dark with or without the clinic! But Pittsfield just continues to ignore the drug problems here -- hide them and they'll go away. Out of sight, out of mind. Doesn't work that way.
from: Molly	on: 02-10-2012 11:23PM I Agree (16) - I Disagree (4)

Typical Berkshire attitude, "not in my back yard" (NIMBY!) Let's hurry up and tighten those regulations so we can continue to control the heath care system in Pittsfield. Does anyone else recognize that BMC is the monopoly in Pittsfield?
from: Jennifer	on: 02-11-2012 07:34AM I Agree (9) - I Disagree (3)

WOW!!! A city in America with NO opiate "EPIDEMIC"!!! CONGRATS Pittsfield!!! No opiate addiction/dependency in YOUR city!!! CONGRATS BIRD BRAINS (and i mean no disrespect to birds!)!!! Now that you have the Opiate EPIDEMIC figured out Pittsfield please share your secret with the rest of America that is FLOODED with the "Opiate Epidemic" that is detroying America!!!
from: NashJeff	on: 02-11-2012 11:36AM I Agree (7) - I Disagree (0)

It's amazing (and very scary) that "locally elected" officials that are poorly or insufficiently educated and that are definitely not prperly informed, are allowed to make rulings on "medical issues" that will become law!! "Uneducated Locally Elected Officials" making rulings on medical issues that will become law is VERY DANGEROUS and totally unacceptable!! You've sent a clear message John Krol. Hopefully your elctorates will send YOU and your crony's "a clear message" election time! Your bias and prejudice overtones are sickening Mr Krol!! Who do you really think you are? You all are disgusting for denying Americans proper and proven medical treatment!!
from: Jeff Tuttle	on: 02-11-2012 12:18PM I Agree (5) - I Disagree (1)

NIMBY ism at its worst. Krol has lost a lot of my respect over this. To zone out a needed service without providing a realistic alternative nearby is the height of NIMBYism and denial. Maybe working in south Williamstown has rubbed off on his ethics.
from: Sad	on: 02-11-2012 01:13PM I Agree (6) - I Disagree (3)

This article does not clearly state the intent of the proposed zoning amendment. The proposal is to prohibit the use downtown; not throughut the city.
from: Concerned	on: 02-11-2012 02:24PM I Agree (6) - I Disagree (3)

This is an ignorant move almost all of the people Who go to these clinics in Springfield holyoke greenfield etc are from pittsfield and there are ALOT of them. This move doesn't stop people with these problems from coming to Pittsfield they are ALREADY. HERE. What it does do is make Pittsfield lose out on a bunch of jobs and more importantly tax dollars!
from: mattviator	on: 02-11-2012 04:38PM I Agree (11) - I Disagree (2)

Thank you to iberkshires for making it clear that this ordinance is designed to prohibit methadone and suboxone clinics from the downtown Arts Overlay District and a small section (downtown business district) that is not within the overlay district. It's interesting that the posts responding to this story seem to be unanimously against the ordinance, while I have heard only overwhelming support from those I have spoken with and received emails and phone calls. I have also spoken with the director of the Brien Center on this issue about the area where these clinics would be prohibited, and she was satisfied. I would hope that those posting on this site would voice their opinions publicly at upcoming hearings on this issue. While I believe strongly in the ordinance, I certainly believe the community development board and the city council should hear all angles of this. I hope that your advocacy for your position will go beyond online posts. Also, I hope those who are critical of me would feel free to contact me directly to discuss this further so I understand your concerns. I'm available by emailing krolward6@gmail. Thank you.
from: John Krol	on: 02-12-2012 01:41PM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (8)

Jennifer, what does BMC have to do with this argument? The hospital has clearly stated from the beginning they have no intention of opening or asking for permission to open a methadone clinic. They dispense methadone as part of an inpatient program at the McGee Unit, and have said they do not intend in any way to operate an outpatient center like the one proposed by Spectrum. Let's stick to facts here.
from: Nope	on: 02-13-2012 10:00AM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (0)

Pittsfield should be supporting any healthcare facility coming to the area to fill a necessary void in our county's healthcare services! Sadly, the opiate epidemic in pittsfield is growing larger by the year, and those without transportation to get the help they need from neighboring counties can not get the help they need. The suboxone clinics in the area are most often full with waiting lists several months long leaving those struggling, desperate, and seeking help with absolutely no options but to continue to use until they are able to move up on that list and get tratment and many will either end up in jail, commit suicide, or overdose and die while waiting for the help that our community refuses to give them. The epidemic in pittsfield is so great at this point that just about every family in our community have at one point or another, tried to save a family member, friend, or loved one from the grasp of addiction. That said, I'd be willing to bet that if someone were to look into Mr. Kroll's family, friends, past, etc., we would most likely find that he to knows someone in need of help too that he is turning his back on, and putting his head in the sand and ignoring in a foolish attempt to help hispolitical career instead of being HUMAN, compassionate, and trying to actually SERVE our great community and ALL of its citizens. Hopefully this ignorant man will be voted out next term now that we have all seen his true colors. I'd be interested to know if anyone in his life truly does or has struggled with addiction.
from: berkshire county resident	on: 02-13-2012 02:43PM I Agree (5) - I Disagree (3)

Mr. Krol is ignorant and seeking to pass this type of regulation is abusive to his constituants. He presents a theory that has no basis in reality. Crime levels actually DROP when people get into drug treatment - and right now hundreds of people a day are traveling over an hour each way to get desperately needed treatment. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get healthy again, and praying for some help in their own local area - and here we have this guy playing NIMBY with their lives? He needs to educate himself as to how methadone works and how it has benefited millions over the past 40 years. Absolutely clueless. This is how he helps the community? What group is he going to label as pariahs next? The mentally ill? The handicapped? Where does NIMBY end?
from: Dreamer2112	on: 02-15-2012 01:46PM I Agree (2) - I Disagree (2)
Editor: Councilor Krol is not against methadone clinics, he is against having them in the downtown artists and business overlay district.
I Agree (3) - I Disagree (0)