Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Aaron Derfel, Staff Writer ADDICT EXPELLED FROM CLEAR HAVEN DIES FROM OVERDOSE Rehab Centre Closed Without Warning MONTREAL -- One of the recovering drug addicts who was expelled from the Clear Haven rehab centre when it closed without warning on Jan. 7 died on Thursday after a heroin overdose, his family said yesterday. Elijah Peabbles, 26, had been on life support in a Maine hospital following the drug relapse. He was among 20 recovering addicts who were told to leave the rehab centre in the Laurentian town of Chertsey. They were put on a minibus and driven to Montreal. "Elijah had been dropped off at the airport (in Montreal) with no passport and no money and a problem with drugs," said Andrea Peabbles, a relative of the family. "It's really unbelievable." Family members said that some of the recovering addicts started taking drugs on the drive back to Montreal. No one has been reimbursed rehab fees from Clear Haven despite the fact that staff had collected tens of thousands of dollars from families as late as Dec. 31. Mike Rice, a Rawdon resident and former Clear Haven activities co-ordinator, blamed owner Terry Orsten for many of the problems at the centre. "That guy's a piece of work," Rice said, referring to Orsten. "He's fired a lot of people. He's left recovering addicts at the airport stranded with $10 in their pocket. I, myself, had to put a girl on an airplane to Philadelphia. The list goes on and on." Rice said that Orsten, an Alberta dentist by profession, would hire staff who were not properly trained in drug rehabilitation. He would then fire the employees and arbitrarily expel some of the recovering addicts. Despite repeated attempts by The Gazette since last week to reach Orsten, he has remained incommunicado. Quebec corporate records show that Orsten has owned Clear Haven since June 24, 2003. The records also show that the centre has been in financial trouble for at least two years, since it did not file annual tax declarations for 2008 and 2009. A number of family members are considering a joint legal action against Clear Haven and Orsten. Clear Haven's abrupt closing has also raised questions about what government oversight, if any, exists for private drug-rehab centres in Quebec. Dominique Breton, a spokesperson for the Quebec Health and Social Services Department, acknowledged that at present such centres do not have to be certified in the province. But she said that will change on June 30, when provincial government regulations - long in the works - take effect for private drug-and-alcohol rehab centres. "These centres will have to be certified, precisely to better regulate them and to make sure that people are given the proper resources," Breton said. Breton suggested that Quebec residents who were expelled from Clear Haven could take advantage of a public drug rehab centre in the neighbouring Outaouais region. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr