CANTON, New York (WWNY) – Judges and their clerks get an explanation in a meeting at SUNY Canton. County Community Services outlines how a methadone clinic at the County Human Services Center will work. And why.
“The biggest thing that we’re working toward is to reduce overdose deaths. We have seen a continual rise in overdoses,” said Sheena Smith, Community Services Director of Addiction Services.
It has raised concerns in Canton. Recovering addicts will come to the clinic 6 days a week for a methadone dose. It will start by serving 30 people. But the number could go as high as 100. It could open by Spring.
“They attend services every single day. So every single day they get in front of a professional person to see how they’re doing. So they have that kind of structure in their life. And they just do better,” said Smith.
The clinic there can now prescribe suboxone for opiate addictions. Methadone has proven more effective. But it’s also a powerful drug and tightly regulated. That’s why the Human Services Center was chosen.
“The Canton clinic right now is kind of our hub, central hub, for our addiction services. It’s a larger facility, it’s where our mental health clinic is housed, it’s also where we do all the medical treatment,” said Smith.
It’s proximity to the county jail is another reason. Sometime this year, the jail is also mandated to begin a drug treatment program including methadone.
They had an amazing statistic. It shows how closely crime and drug use are linked. About 88% of inmates at the St. Lawrence County Jail, when surveyed, said they had used illicit drugs in the last year.
Community services will also start deploying a mobile treatment vehicle, probably by fall. It will not provide methadone but it can provide other medications and treatment.
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