James Tracey says he?s tired of the swearing, fighting and public urination at the drug treatment clinic next door to his Pikesville home.
He?s counting on Baltimore County lawmakers to shut down the methadone clinic ?a for-profit facility that provides addicts with the synthetic opiate. The county will defend its 2002 zoning law that bans drug clinics within 750 feet from homes today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
“We just shut the curtains and try to forget about it because it?s become almost an impossible situation,” Tracey said. “It?s just not a place to be in a neighborhood.”
A federal judge in August 2006 ruled the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, a victory for clinic owner Joel Prell, who also criticized the Baltimore County Council for rushing the bill.
Prell has the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is providing him free counsel. Drug advocates said methadone clinics across the country have faced battles from neighbors, and almost all have won in court.
County police from the Pikesville district, across the street from the Slade Avenue clinic, said the facility has generated few complaints. Gary Mandell, director of the Maryland chapter of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates, said that holds true nationally.
County attorneys have argued drug abusers are not disabled and said they want to protect residents from criminal behavior associated with addiction. They said clinics are best located in remote industrial or manufacturing areas.
Dr. Michael Hayes operates the Center for Addiction Medicine on the grounds of Maryland General Hospital, which he said affords him access to emergency treatment.
“Nobody can tell me that methadone clinics aren?t at the very least a disturbance,” Hayes said. “They are loud, they are noisy, they are rude, and they are a pain in the neck.”
