Connections opens community support center in Millsboro

Sussex County residents suffering from addiction to drugs such as OxyContin and heroin now have a place where they can receive treatment. A new Millsboro outpatient clinic offers methadone and suboxone treatment – drugs typically used to alleviate withdraw symptoms related to opiate addiction.

Connections is a nonprofit organization that offers substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, employment services and assistance with homelessness.  Connections has various centers throughout the state, including two other locations in Sussex County – one in Seaford and another in Georgetown.  The new Millsboro clinic, which opened nearly two months ago, is the only location in the county that offers methadone and suboxone treatment.

The drugs are both addictive narcotics, and some residents and elected officials are questioning the effect a methadone clinic will have on the surrounding community.

Methadone is the most effective treatment for heroin addiction, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  According to Delaware Health and Social Services Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, 363 people were admitted to publicly-funded treatment centers in Sussex County because opiate addiction in 2010.

Connections is in the Food Lion shopping center at the intersection of Route 24 and Route 5 in Millsboro.  Town Mayor Robert Bryan said he knows little about the clinic.  He said it is out of the jurisdiction of Millsboro Town Council.

County Councilwoman Joan Deaver, D-Rehoboth Beach, said the location is already zoned for professional offices; county council cannot regulate which drugs are dispensed by the clinic.  “They’re using the property for its purpose,” she said.

Deaver said she heard about Connections on a radio program, and she listened to residents call the station with positive and negative reactions to the clinic.  Deaver said she is interested to know more about the repercussions of a methadone clinic in her district.  “I don’t know if there’s any proof that it helps or hurts,” she said.  “It’s a concern to many people that live in that area.”

Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, said prescription drug use is on the rise in Sussex County.  He said many young people in the Long Neck and Oak Orchard area are unemployed and dealing with substance-abuse problems.

Hopefully methadone treatment will keep some addicts from relapsing, Bunting said.  “But it’s still a drug.”

Chris DiSanto, director of business developments at Connections Community Support Programs said concerns are justified because of the stigma surrounding methadone clinics.  "But we're not just a methadone clinic," he said.

DiSanto said the nonprofit offers a variety of resources for people in need; medication-assisted treatment is just one of the services offered in Millsboro.

He said the organization had to receive approval from state and federal agencies, including the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  "It's extremely regulated," DiSanto said.

DiSanto said Connections chooses its locations based on the needs of a community, and he said there is a need in the area surrounding the new location.  "There seemed to be kind of a hole on the eastern side of Sussex County," he said.  "Especially in the Long Neck area."

DiSanto said Connections opened its door in Millsboro to address an existing problem with substance abuse, not to create a problem where there was not one before.

For more information on Connections, go to connectionscsp.org.