Hello Neighbors,
I am sure that many of you have become aware of a Methodone Clinic that is due to open on the corner of Woodland and 5th - at the former post office.
http://www.kvoa.com/news/methadone-clinic-moving-to-tucson-neighborhood/
Councilman Kozachik said that we should not be concerned but WE SHOULD BE for many of the reasons I listed below.
Please email Councilman Kozachik
and tell him that we are not ok with a Methadone clinic in our residential neighborhood.
What I wrote is below:
Dear Councilman Kozachik,
I am a Ward 6 constituent who lives near the corner of 5th and Craycroft. I am also a Licensed Master of Social Work who has worked in adult behavioral health services. Although I have the utmost compassion for people who are in substance abuse recovery, I am also uniquely aware of the behaviors and subsequent impact of living near and around substance abusers. People who utilize methadone clinics are not casual drug users, they have abuse and dependency issues and as a result, their judgment is impaired.
Allowing a methadone clinic to operate in a residential neighborhood IS concerning. This area is not highly populated during the week with neighboring churches operating mostly on Sundays and residents away at work. This allows clinic clients to be wholly unsupervised during the weekday. You also must be aware that there is a gas station directly across the street from the former post office which sells alcohol.
I have worked around Methadone clinics and regardless of the "track record" of the agency, there are higher rates of crime in around the clinics including property damage, public intoxication, the sale and purchase of illegal substances, vandalism and on occasion assaults. Furthermore, clients DO hang around the clinic loitering AND littering.
I STRONGLY protest allowing a Methadone clinic to be placed into a residential neighborhood when clearly the more safe option would be having a clinic around other medical facilities or at the least in commercial areas which are more populated and therefore more monitored by the public, law enforcement and technology.
I will continue to state my concerns to the Tucson City Council and State Representatives.
