Malibu's Passages Rehab Eschews 12-Step Programs The gate buzzes and opens, revealing a secluded street winding its way up a Malibu hillside marked by lavish homes and lush landscapes. Up one driveway, between the marble columns and carved stone lions and just past the koi pond, is the front door of what could be a palatial residence or a very exclusive ocean-view resort. But Passages is neither. It is a highly successful drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, according to proprietors Chris and Pax Prentiss, and possibly the most expensive facility of its kind in the nation. [continues 1285 words]
ABC executives said Saturday the White House drug policy office asked for scripts of TV shows before they were aired as part of its program content-for-advertising swap, directly contradicting what the White House office said Friday. Patricia Fili-Krushel, president of ABC, said it is likely the Office of National Drug Control Policy made the same script request of other networks. The statements are the latest twist to a controversy that erupted Thursday over the networks' apparent use of program content in a financial bargain with the government. [continues 654 words]
The federal government gave television networks financial incentives to put anti-drug messages into the scripts of some of their most popular shows, including NBC's "ER," ABC's "The Practice," CBS's "Chicago Hope" and Fox's "Beverly Hills 90210." The White House drug office - which reviewed some scripts and footage in advance of broadcast - valued the trade-offs at $22 million. Most of the networks, which have long held their program content sacred and beyond the reach of would-be government censors, issued statements denying that they profited from the trade-offs. [continues 817 words]
