Investigation Finds Drug Dealing Near D.C. Clinics July 8, 2004
News Summary
A federal investigation has found that drug deals are taking place around several addiction-treatment centers in Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported July 7.The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee ordered the investigation after newspaper articles reported rampant drug dealing near D.C.'s largest methadone clinic.
During the 14-month investigation, investigators with the U.S. General Accounting Office made more than 50 visits to the five treatment clinics in the District of Columbia to conduct surveillance. They reported that the areas surrounding the treatment centers were "a virtual bazaar of illegal drug dealing."
"It makes it so much harder for our folks who face a daily struggle just to stay clean, to get their lives back to some resemblance of normalcy," said Tyrone Patterson, program manager for the Model Treatment Program. The methadone clinic, which treats more than 300 patients a day, abuts a McDonald's parking lot where so much drug dealing goes on that police narcotics investigators have called it "McPharmacy."
The findings of the probe were released during a recent congressional subcommittee hearing. The hearing was held on a bill sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) that would toughen penalties for those caught dealing within 1,000 feet of a treatment center or selling to those undergoing treatment.
The measure calls for a five-year mandatory sentence for the first offense and a mandatory 10-year sentence for the second offense. "This will send a message to dealers that you can't sell drugs around places where people are trying to get help," Patterson said.
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