A new rehab facility opening in West Los Angeles promises to treat drug addiction in a new and exciting way: by giving addicts drugs.
High Sobriety bills itself as “cannabis inclusive treatment” and stands in direct contrast to most treatment centers, which preach complete abstinence from mind-altering substances, including alcohol and marijuana. According to its website, High Sobriety uses marijuana to help patients detox from drugs and alcohol, and also as part of the center’s continuing care:
At High Sobriety, our first and foremost goal is to eliminate the risk of death from drug use. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, pharmaceuticals and other street drugs all have a lethal dose. Leading the death toll, killing more than all others combined, is alcohol. Cannabis has no known lethal dose. The simple truth is eliminating drugs with a lethal dose and using a drug with no lethal dose is a massive improvement, life improving, and life saving. For generations we have been told that cannabis is a “gateway” drug, at High Sobriety, we believe it is an exit drug.
High Sobriety was founded by Joe Schrank, a recovering addict who has been abstinent from drugs and alcohol for more than 20 years and who once worked as a counselor at Promises Malibu. He later started one of New York City’s first sober-living homes, which earned him a flattering profile in The New York Times Style section in 2011 (the piece noted the facility’s exposed brick walls and Restoration Hardware chairs).
By Hillel Aron
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