March 28, 2024
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Calais meeting to address concerns about methadone clinic

CALAIS – Property owners who soon may have a methadone clinic in their back yard were miffed when they learned in May that they could not stop the city’s code enforcement officer from issuing a permit.

But tonight they will have a chance to learn more about Discovery House, the agency behind the clinic, and the impact the clinic will have on their property. Billed as a monthly public education forum to talk about how the agency will work with local police, the meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Calais Motor Inn.

Dan Mahoney, director of Discovery House in South Portland, will be there to answer questions.

A plan to place a methadone clinic in the city moved one step closer last month when the city’s planning board directed the code enforcement officer to issue a permit.

Code Enforcement Officer Jim Porter said Wednesday he issued the permit on May 27 to the building’s owner, Mike Johnson.

“I issued the permit to Johnson because he filed on behalf of Discovery House” he said.

The synthetic narcotic methadone is used to treat people addicted to heroin or other opiates, including the prescription painkiller OxyContin, the abuse of which has plagued rural Maine, particularly Washington County.

Officials for Discovery House of Providence, R.I., selected a site on Beech Street between the Subway sandwich shop and the Job Center to open a methadone clinic. The proposed site is near the Police Department.

The city’s ordinances allowed for the clinic to be at that site.

After the planning board adjourned, abutting neighbors were surprised when they were not given an opportunity to comment on the process. The abutters were told that the planning board members followed the guidelines set forth in the city ordinances.

Discovery House, which operates facilities in two other Maine cities and 13 states, hopes to open its doors to Washington County clients in the fall.

It would be the first outpatient methadone treatment clinic in Washington County. Maine has four drug-abuse treatment programs, in South Portland, Winslow, Westbrook and Bangor.


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