"..Having a Great Detox" (3/29/07 p. E1)

I couldn't get this picture to paste, so click on this link, and after looking at the picture you might think beautiful home, hotel, or Bed and Breakfast. I bet you didn't consider it to be a rehab facility, which is exactly what it is. It is called Passages, which is located in Malibu, California. Passions, like some of the more lush rehab centers appears to be a luxury spa or resort, not a traditional bare-bones detox centers.

The article, "Having a Great Detox" focused on how rehab centers for the rich and famous are looked at as somewhere to go to treat a drug or alcohol addiction, but seem to be the equivalent as shedding a few unwanted pounds. The article pointed out that less than a decade ago, a stint in rehab was assumed to be a bod and soul wrenching experience. A trip to even an elite facility like the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California was sufficiently shaming to keep under wraps. Today a sojourn at a boutique establishment like Promises in Malibu, California, where until last week Britney Spears was tucked away, is openly discussed and in some quarters glamorized as a hip, if costly, refuge for the gilded set.

I was actually really pleased to find this article. I had always wondered why rehab seemed to be so glamorized now days. I'm a sucker for celebrity gossip (although I know its ridiculous) and came across an article about a new star in rehab more often than not. These rehab centers pamper their "patients" with full-out spas, enormous swimming pools, and ocean view, private rooms. Sounds like quite the vacation package. The Times even noted Richard DeGrandpre, the author of "The Cult of Pharmacology" saying, "rehab is a prurient, even envious fascination with celebrity culture, one, in which rehab has become fashionable, almost to the point, ironically, of giving a person status." So true.

Of course, these posh rehab centers are by no means cheap for the everyday "normal" citizens. One-month programs can range anywhere from $25,000 to $80,000, a little more than a high class vacation. These centers give out the essence of a luxurious holiday getaway to the rich and famous. US Weekly even published a feature laid out like a glossy travel brochure, portraying treatment as something akin to a visit to a five-star hotel.

William Cope Moyers, the vice president for external affairs at Hazelden in Center City, MN stated that addiction does not discriminate. It is a disease that doesn't care whether you are glamours or glory. These centers maybe shouldn't either. The Hard Rock resort in Las Vegas offers a series of "rehab nights" of poolside drinking and carousing, and is among a number of businesses promoting the concept of rehab as an alternately laid back and stimulating retreat for the middle class.

I find it unethical that these centers are turning rehab into something that if someone isn't going to rehab, maybe they aren't so interesting. Rehab shouldn't be a profile raiser or something to be proud of. Drug and alcohol addiction is something that cannot be taken lightly, which is exactly what these centers are making it become.

Of course, I am not implying that rehab centers should be something equivalent to a shack alongside the road. They deserve to be on the nicer side, however, they can't be inviting and something guests want to come back to. Rehab isn't supposed to be a "come back and see us again" kind of place. Places like Passions or Promises even have names that imply something someone wants to return to. I believe in the face of ethics, these centers need a face lift (or a face down) and be restored as something necessary for those who are addicted to harmful drugs or alcohol, and they don't want that shared with the world.

Article by: RUTH LA FERLA