Last fall, Federal Way city leaders decided to spend $20,000 for a trial of the controversial Prometa drug treatment program.

Nearly five months later, the City Council has killed the trial before it even started.

What went wrong?

Despite anecdotal testimonies, no scientific studies have been completed to show whether Prometa really works.

Council member Mike Park said he backed off because Prometa hasn’t been proven.

“That’s what was most persuasive to me,” agreed council member Jim Ferrell. “The more we learned the more we became concerned whether this was an appropriate use of the city’s resources.”

The decision is the latest setback for Prometa, the cornerstone of a treatment program that uses generic drugs and counseling to reduce craving in addicts.

The Pierce County Council cut funding for new clients last fall, citing its questionable effectiveness. A News Tribune examination found that several public and private officials had owned stock in the company behind the program while they pushed for public funding of it.

While the controversy was still fresh in Pierce County, the Federal Way City Council unanimously approved the Prometa trial in November, pending further study by the city.

A city staff report later recommended against a trial because no studies have been finished.

“Moving forward at this time would be a risky decision,” the report said. “While Prometa might one day be a wonderful tool to enhance dependency treatment, today it is just an experimental procedure with wonderful personal experiences.”

Without any comment, the City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday not to go ahead with the trial.

Mayor Jack Dovey, the program’s biggest booster on the council, was out of town on city business and missed the vote. Dovey said later he would have voted to continue with the trial.

He suggested the pilot program after a former employee at his telecommunications company told him he’d stopped using methamphetamine after being treated with Prometa.

The employee, David Smart, and another Federal Way resident, Kelly Nelson, told the council in November they kicked meth with Prometa.

Dovey said he plans to push this fall to put money back in the budget for a Prometa trial next year. He hopes there soon will be more information that shows Prometa works.

“I still think it’s a good program,” Dovey said. “I’ve seen it work.”

Helping get people off drugs cuts crime and puts people back into society, Dovey said. “I believe it would have been a good investment for our city.”

Smart, 41, said last week he’s stayed off drugs since he started the Prometa treatment more than a year ago. Dovey rehired Smart to work part time for him.

“I think it’s worked on enough people to use it,” Smart said. “I’m living proof of it and so are many other people.”

The city’s staff report cites some of the problems Prometa faced in Pierce County.

Last November, the Pierce County Council redirected $575,000 that had been designated for the Prometa program run by Pierce County Alliance, said county budget analyst Paul Bocchi. County auditors had released a report debunking the program’s claimed effectiveness.

The Legislature did approve $395,000 this year for Pierce County Alliance to finish its pilot program with clients it already had. The money also will help fund a study on Prometa’s effectiveness at the University of Washington.

Federal Way’s council originally approved spending $20,000 from higher-than-anticipated tax and fee revenues. The money now goes back into the city manager’s contingency fund.

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647