CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates handed over its Chamber last week for what was billed as a public presentation on drug abuse treatment and prevention strategies. But lawmakers say it ended up being a promotion for the state’s for-profit methadone clinics.

“What we got was a testimonial,” said House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue, D-Wayne.

Clinton-era drug czar and retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Barry Karlin, chief executive of CRC Health Group, were offered the House Chamber Thursday to address a joint meeting of Perdue’s committee and House Judiciary.

Perdue said the event was presented to House leaders as a spotlight on the “treatment gap” in which an estimated 142,000 substance abusing West Virginians are not getting the help they need. Yet the 90-minute presentation largely touted CRC and its multistate network of clinics that offer methadone and other services to people addicted to such opioid drugs as OxyContin.

“I was totally unprepared for the shameless and blatant cheerleading engaged in” by Karlin, Perdue said afterward. “It made me feel very much like the dupe at a shell game.”

CRC has seven clinics in West Virginia, including one in Huntington. Questions posed to Karlin and McCaffrey during Thursday’s presentation echoed criticisms of their operations.

Several lawmakers link a rash of overdose drug deaths in southern West Virginia to methadone taken home by clinic patients. A compensated member of CRC’s board, McCaffrey bristled at some questions from reporters after the presentation regarding the company and his promotion of its work.

Perdue said McCaffrey’s remarks were more in keeping with the presentation’s stated intent. But he faulted CRC lobbyist Raymona Kinneberg for selling leadership on allowing him and Karlin to use the Chamber.

“I felt that I was misled by the lobbyist,” Perdue said.

Kinneberg said Tuesday that she had relayed what others had told her, about both the presentation and the participants.

“As it turns out, that’s not exactly what happened,” she said. “Unfortunately, the presentation took a direction that most of the planners had not anticipated, and I believe did not meet the expectations of those who sponsored the meeting.”

Kinneberg said she has tried to assuage Perdue on the subject, and praised his leadership on substance abuse issues.

House rules require groups to seek the permission from committee chairs when requesting joint meetings or use of the House chamber for such presentations. Perdue did not propose revisiting those rules.