Pubdate: Mon, 27 May 2013
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Maryam Shah
Page: 7

DIRTY SECRET OF THE RICH

Addiction expert Mark Elliot says drug usage is rampant among Canada's
A-listers.

Bay St. traders, rich offspring, and politicians have all been his
clients, he told the Toronto Sun Sunday.

"It has always been a hidden underground of people who are addicted
and hide it well, and it's much easier to do it when you've got a lot
of money and a lot of power," said Elliot, who has a late-night show
on Newstalk 1010 that focuses on addictions.

Drug usage is front and center in Toronto with Mayor Rob Ford facing
allegations of smoking crack cocaine.

Two Toronto Star reporters and a Gawker journalist claim to have seen
a video - never viewed by the Toronto Sun - allegedly showing the
mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

The video has not surfaced, and Ford denies the allegations.

Elliot said he used cocaine and other drugs in his early career.
Having undergone a six-month stint of rehab, he helps the "the
brightest and the best" recover.

"I do interventions, I've done a councillor, I've dealt with people on
Bay St. for years," Elliot said. "I've dealt with high-end drug addicts."

He understands how the well-connected continue to abuse drugs as his
colleagues didn't intervene in his case, he said.

"I was so well-protected," Elliot said. "Everybody in the business
knew I had a problem but nobody said a thing."

He has seen "too many really rich people" die from
addiction.

"I see as many crackheads and heroin addicts in Forest Hill as I do in
Parkdale," Elliot said.

People are "living in a bubble" if they don't see the prevalence of
drugs around them, he said. "It's everywhere."
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