A methadone clinic is soon to open at 732 S. Ludlow St. — at the corner of Ziegler and Ludlow, just south of US 35 — becoming the third such clinic in the city.

According to the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, the Crossroads Center in Cincinnati has completed all of the necessary paperwork and is licensed to open the out-patient facility to treat heroin and other opiate addicts, called Crosspoints.

Dr. Roberto Soria, Crossroads medical director, said the facility will open as soon as all the paperwork has been approved. Soria said he will make a private presentation to city and community leaders Thursday.

Steve Sieboldt, president of the Downtown Priority Board, is one of those invited to the meeting.

“The only concerns I’ve heard are about the location,” Sieboldt said. “This appears to be a legitimate operation.” The neighborhood is a center for social service and medical agencies.

According to Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson of the state drug addiction services, Crosspoint was licensed on the basis of Crossroads lengthy history of methadone treatment. All licenses are for one year, and the clinic must apply for renewal every 12 months. All licensed methadone treatment centers must be non-profit, she said.

The CURE Project at 1800 N. James H. McGee Blvd. is the only other state-licensed methadone clinic in the area. The Veterans Administration operates a federally regulated methadone program on its VA Hospital campus on West Third Street.

Virgil McDaniels, CURE deputy director, said there is always room for more opiate treatment. CURE saw its caseload spike to a record high two years ago. It dropped last year and is inching upward this year. McDaniels declined to release figures.

“A lot of folks are not getting treatment,” McDaniels said. “In most cases, they have to be forced into treatment by a loved one. The question is whether they will stay in treatment.”

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2008, 20 percent of the 1.8 million admissions to reporting treatment facilities, or 360,000, were for heroin and other opiate addictions. That was the largest identified group.

Crosspoint also is licensed for Suboxone treatment, another drug used to help opiate addicts to kick their habit, be it heroin or other opiates.

Both Suboxone and methadone can be abused and overdoses have been reported. Both drugs, however, have been shown effective in treating opiate addiction.