Opioid treatment program facing opposition in Putnam County

PUTNAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A petition with more than 2,100 signatures aims to prevent an opioid treatment program from setting up shop in Putnam County because it plans to include methadone.

“We hear the bad stuff, folks getting in and selling it, you’re bringing in folks from all our other areas of the region and the state and crime goes up and and all those issues,” said Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter. “It’s just a negative we think for our community and the community so far is turning out pretty big against it.”

Cedar Recovery filed a Certificate of Need with the Tennessee Health Facilities commission for an opioid treatment program to be located at 1805 Burgess Falls Road in Cookeville. It currently operate 13 facilities in Tennessee and Virginia, including an outpatient location in Cookeville. Cedar Recovery recently added methadone to its other medications used for treatment and its leaders feel evidence backs that decision.

“I’ll be honest with you, I hate that they call it a methadone clinic because it’s an Opioid Treatment Program and the word methadone clinic is so stigmatizing,” said Cedar Recovery Cheif Strategy Officer, Paul Trivette. “There is no question. No question that methadone, an FDA approved medication that’s been studied since the 1960s, is an effective medication to treat opioid use disorder. That is not even debatable.”

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, opioids have consistently played a role in drug overdose deaths among state residents and were involved in 3,073 overdose deaths in the Volunteer State in 2022.

“We want to try to do everything we can to help the drug addiction problem there is and we feel like we are doing that. So we’re not against Cedar Recovery with their facility, they have a facility here now, a recovery facility. It’s the methadone part of it, that we’re very, very concerned about,” explained Mayor Porter.

The Putnam County Commission passed a resolution opposing the proposed program. An online petition stated methadone has been linked in medical studies to brain tissue damage and respiratory problems and has an FDA warning as a possibly addictive drug. Commission leaders said the area already has treatment available for opioid addiction. They’re also concerned about venture capital investors and that the clinic would share a building with children.

“The location that they’re looking at putting a clinic in, its the same as a sports facility for kids to practice sports on a daily basis. And it’s, it’s within 1,000-1,200 foot of two different daycares. It’s 1,000 to 2,000 feet of a new elementary school that we’re about to open in the fall. And we just think it’s a terrible location,” said Mayor Porter. “Most folks that we’ve seen in the community, we’ve had several large meetings, they oppose it.”

Trivette said the concerns are not without merit but the landscape surrounding methadone treatment has changed over the years and leaders shouldn’t let fear prevent those in need from getting help.

“The opioid epidemic has been exacerbated by fentanyl. Overdoses continued to skyrocket. People are dying,” said Trivette. “It’s personal to me because my father died of a drug overdose on December 15, 2010. I was one of the people that was standing on the sidelines, opposing these types of programs.”

According to Cedar Recovery, its program would serve 14 counties of the Upper Cumberland area. The average driving distance to an opioid treatment program for residents of Putnam County is reportedly 97 miles away.

“What about the individuals that are battling the most deadly disease for people that are under the age of 50? These are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, loved ones. And this is an evidence based treatment. So we should not shun them,” said Trivette. “There is a deep faith community in in Putnam County, and I’m part of that same faith. But the difference is I approach people where they are, we love them unconditionally. We forgive them habitually. We demonstrate mercy. And we also love them too much to let them stay where they’re at. So we provide that level of care and those services to help those individuals find recovery.”

Cedar Recovery sent what it calls a “good neighbor agreement” to Putnam County’s leaders. It says if the state does approve this facility, it will take steps to alleviate concerns with measures such as a community advisory board, considerate hours and prohibiting outdoor seating or waiting areas.

“A lot of the rhetoric that’s going on around this type of program is, it’s fear. It’s ‘Hey, what are you going to attract to this community? What are you going to do here? You’re trading a drug for a drug.’ All of these things have been disproven. It’s not based in in anything that is evidence based or scientific based,” said Trivette. “The individuals that present to this facility must meet criteria for opioid use disorder. There’s going to be drug testing, there’s going to be assessments done. When that happens, you’re going to also be engaged with a therapist, a counselor, a peer recovery specialist. You will be given medication that has been shown to save your life, that would be methadone.”

⏩ Read today’s top stories on wkrn.com

Despite the local opposition, it’s up to state officials to give the green light to open this facility. Mayor Porter said he plans to attend a meeting in Nashville at the end of July to voice concerns along with the county sheriff, district attorney and medical experts.

“We’ve got a lot of other treatment facilities here that don’t use methadone and are having some great success. With the opioid abatement money that’s come down from the lawsuit, we put out to now in two batches with this year, almost a million dollars to a lot of our treatment and recovery facilities here in Putnam County, that are doing great without the methadone,” said Mayor Porter. “We want to do everything we can and we think we are doing a lot to try and help you have these clinics that are in an hour’s drive of Cookeville. If you want methadone and that’s what works for you, you have the availability to get it. We just think that the negativity parts outweigh the the positives for our community.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.