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.