Drug clinic to tackle addiction (From Free Press Series)

Drug clinic to tackle addiction

A £500,000 clinic to combat spiralling levels of drug and alcohol abuse is to be opened in Pontypool town centre by September.

Despite misgivings from some residents and business people, Councillor Gwyneira Clark, Torfaen council member for housing and community safety, said the plan would go ahead because "we cannot bury our heads in the sand."

Torfaen council announced plans to open the clinic at the former Mount GP Surgery on George Street, as a base for GPs, psychiatrists, youth workers and other experts who will provide medical assessments, counselling, training, education, and help groups for addicts and their families.

No methadone will be dispensed from the clinic, which will operate during normal business hours, but a needle exchange programme will operate to encourage users not to discard used needles in public.

Dave Jeremiah, of Torfaen's Community Safety Partnership, said the majority of under 18s in Torfaen were drinking, often heavily, on a regular basis and a soon to be published report will show around half of the youngsters in the area admit to experimenting with drugs.

"We've got a real problem. Unless we do something about it I can see deaths coming," he said.

He said around 100 families desperately need the new centre to address the "chaos" in their lives caused by addiction.

Plans for the clinic have sparked fears among some residents and businesses about the effect it could have on the area.

One resident, who lives just yards from the clinic site, said: "I wish they hadn't decided to put it near us."