CITY HALL — Methadone clinics would face zoning restrictions for the first time in an ordinance proposed by a South Side alderman.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) submitted an ordinance at last week's City Council meeting that would require the clinics, which specialize in treating heroin addicts, to obtain a special-use permit.
The ordinance would also restrict them from being within 1,000 feet of a school or day-care center.
The ordinance classifies a methadone clinic as a medical service, but specifically says it must seek a special-use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, unlike other medical services, and sets the 1,000-foot limit.
"There are currently no zoning restrictions in place for methadone clinics," said mayoral spokeswoman Chloe Rasmas. "The city is reviewing the ordinance and its potential impact on communities across Chicago."
Yet, while the zoning restrictions might seem like common sense, they would place an undue burden on a much-needed social service, according to Kathie Kane-Willis, director of the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University.
"That's a really bad idea," Kane-Willis said Tuesday. "What is the prejudice against methadone-maintenance facilities?
"The idea of a methadone clinic ... requiring a special-use permit, when that's not required of any other kind of treatment, is a bad idea, it's bad policy and it's bad for people who need those services," she added. "And it's actually bad for communities, because methadone maintenance actually reduces criminal activities. So if you want crime to go up, yeah, put those restrictions in place."
Methadone clinics would be additionally stigmatized and isolated, she said. And even though dozens of methadone clinics are listed in Chicago, their waiting lists tend to be long, she added, creating a hurdle to those who need treatment immediately.
"Methadone maintenance is proven to be the most effective treatment of opiate-use disorders," Kane-Willis said. "It's needed more than ever.
"Especially considering the lack of available treatment, to create even more barriers right now, when the Chicago metropolitan area is suffering from an increased heroin-using problem ... would be absolutely the worst idea — a bad idea at a bad time," Kane-Willis added. "There's no way that this can have a positive outcome."
Dowell said Wednesday the issue falls between the cracks on city law.
"They're licensed by the state, so there's actually no way to catch them through zoning, because there's no city license requirement," Dowell said.
She thought they might be under the same restrictions as the newly approved medical-marijuana dispensaries, but the state never granted the same city input into their location. "We don't have the same oversight over methadone clinics," Dowell said. "I'm trying to address that."
Dowell said she would continue to try to enact some sort of city say on their location through talks with the Zoning and Building departments, perhaps leading to an amendment of her original ordinance.
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