The July 21 Point of View editorial described the proposed MAT clinic as a “place for healing, a place that helps patients become healthy and which will be a vibrant part of our communities.”
How will that happen when the patients trade an illegal drug for legal drugs which are equally addictive?
MAT patients live in fear of missing a dose and going into withdrawal.
Their window is 24 to 36 hours between doses.
The result of that fear is staying in close proximity to the clinic.
Missing a bus, traffic delays, illness or accidents could hinder the necessary dose.
Employment is difficult as daily clinic visits interfere with work and training schedules.
As a result, Sequim could expect an influx of people needing housing near the clinic who are financially unable to care for themselves.
The “no loitering” rule for the clinic’s campus will funnel patients into the community.
Sequim will either need to provide housing or plan for an extended homeless population.
This is not stigmatizing addiction, but looking at the reality of how addictions impact communities.
The property for the facility is zoned for medical use that has no external impact to the community; example: vision or dental.
A MAT clinic and psychiatric facility hardly fits that criteria.
Stelle Knauff,
Sequim