A new walk-in methadone clinic that's taking a different approach to treating people addicted to drugs such as Dilaudid and heroin opened its doors in Saint John Monday.

Unlike other programs, clients can check themselves in without a doctor's referral, and counselling is not mandatory.

The clinic’s goal is to reduce the wait list for methadone treatment and take the pressure off the city's existing treatment centre, which has been plagued by long waiting lists for several years, said Dana Manzer, a nurse practitioner who is running the new clinic out of St. Joseph's Hospital.

Manzer said there are now 180 people on the waiting list for the Ridgewood Addictions Services Treatment Centre in Saint John.

All clients who sign up for the new methadone program will undergo a physical exam, urine drug screen and blood tests, she said. They'll also have to give a brief history of their drug use, and some will set personal goals.

"So, when I meet with people, I say, 'What do you want to achieve from this?'" she said. "For some people, it's getting their kids back that they may have lost custody [of]. Other people, it's being able to get back to their work, reclaiming their health, their families and really reclaiming their lives.

"And, so, whatever measure individuals have for that, that's how we measure success."

Manzer is hoping the criteria for treatment in this new program, which was announced by the province in May, will help more clients stick with it.

She expects to have 50 people in treatment within the next three weeks.

Saint John police Chief Bill Reid had been pushing for more access to methadone services as a way to curtail crime, because he said 75 per cent of the city's crime is related to drugs.