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Whatcom County needs more treatment options

by Zoe Fraley
For heroin addicts in Whatcom County, the hurdles to getting clean are higher than they should be.

The county has limited drug-treatment facilities and has no methadone clinic. Access to a local methadone clinic is necessary in order to facilitate the rehabilitation process of Whatcom County’s heroin addicts.

For many addicts, reaching a point where they are ready to quit is difficult enough. On top of that, the closest methadone clinic is the Island Crossing Counseling Services, located in Snohomish County in Arlington, with a capacity for 350 clients and a waiting list. This is a nearly 90-minute round-trip drive from Bellingham, which has to be made daily for up to 12 months to effectively keep up with methadone treatments. In addition, many addicts have trouble accessing transportation, adding another layer of difficulty on their road to rehabilitation.

“I am not sure I can tell you of any client I have who enjoys what they do,” said Lisa Shoemaker, the head of the Needle Exchange Program for the Whatcom County Health Department.

With a local methadone clinic, users who are ready to quit could do so without the myriad obstacles they face today. The user and the community could reap the rewards from this treatment. But according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy Web site, addicts in Whatcom County are not alone, as only 20 percent of the country’s heroin addicts have access to methadone clinics.

According to a 2002 report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, methadone maintenance treatment is the most affective treatment for opiate addiction. Methadone, which occupies the brain’s heroin-affected receptor sites, helps to reduce drug use, risk of overdose, criminal activity and mortality rates, according to the study.

Having a local methadone clinic would increase public safety. A 2002 report to the legislature showed that methadone treatment reduced property crimes by 64 percent, drug offenses by 81 percent and overall arrests by 63 percent out of nearly 1,000 people treated.

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