The Healing Place delayed again

Last night, the Huntington City Council once again delayed a vote on a resolution to support The Healing Place, a drug treatment program that, from all indications, has worked in Louisville.

I can come up with a few reasons for the council to take the action it did:

1. It really needs more information, despite the amount that has been in the newspaper and on tv in the past 12 months.

2. It fears endorsement means it will be asked to support The Healing Place financially.

3. It will not control The Healing Place, therefore it does not want to endorse it.

4. Somewhere buried deep in all this is a personal grudge that the rest of us don't know about. Yet.

5. Various council members really don't want a drug treatment center in Huntington. Unlike the methadone clinic, people who go to The Healing Place will be weaned off their habits. I can see why the councilmembers don't want another methadone clinic, but that does not mean the council should keep all treatment centers out of the city. There are other ways the council and others can delay The Healing Place. The front line will be if the center needs a zoning variance.

Bottom line: There's no sound reason for the delay. The city is the best place for The Healing Place. City leaders should admit this town has a problem with drug use (first step) and do what must be done.