The neighbour of a new methadone clinic opening in Westfort isn’t concerned about the new clinic but wants to reserve judgment until it opens its doors in August.
Barry Prochnicki, a chef at his daughter's Bistro North which is in the same complex as the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre, said he first heard about the new methadone clinic from other area businesses. While he’s not sure what to expect, Prochnicki said if people in Thunder Bay need help, they should have access to it.
"It’s not a big concern at all for me. There’s a lot of people in Thunder Bay that I feel do need these treatment centres and they’re getting the help that they need," said Prochnicki.
With the clinic operating during regular business hours during the week and 9a.m. to 12 p.m. on weekends, Prochnicki said he thinks it will be dinner time as usual for the restaurant but will have to wait and see what happens during lunch time. Prochnicki said he’s heard customer comments from both sides.
"We’ve had a number of people tell us that it doesn’t matter but we’ve had the same amount of people tell us that they are concerned about it," he said.
But Westfort Village Association member Jack Moro said he thinks opposition to the new clinic is around 90 per cent. Moro, who owns J.B. Evans, said the association wants the clinic to focus more on helping people get over addictions rather than just harm reduction. Moro said there should be counselling and a focus on getting people off of their addictions comfortably and back into society. While he wouldn’t totally agree with the location even with a changed mandate from the OATC, Moro said it would be "far better" if the clinic had a broader focus.
"We’re not against helping people get over their problems," Moro said. "The concern we have with this is that it’s not a treatment. It is a treatment for harm reduction but it’s not going to cure them and the OATC is not interested in really getting (people) over their addictions."
The OATC website however states that along with dispensing methadone, the clinic offers free counselling with on-site counsellors. The methadone is taken in conjunction with an entire program dedicated to helping addicts "return to a stable social, economic and home environment".
"The goal of Methadone treatment is to stabilize your body physically so that you can make the desired changes in your life, and make the best of your new "drug-free" lifestyle," the website states.
Moro said another concern for Westfort businesses is public perception. He understands that people who use treatment centres aren’t bad people but the general public might not.
"They (shoppers) like to come here (Westfort) and they would like it to stay that way," Moro said. We’re worried about how the public thinks of Westfort," Moro said.
