Wednesday, August 26, 2015

From the Sun Sentinel: About 'sober' homes in south Florida

This is a long and very in-depth article from Kate Jacobson about sober homes. Here is a short excerpt and encourage my readers to read the entire article:
     Officers walked into the house thinking it was just another overdose call.
     This particular May morning didn't seem any different — in recent weeks, police said they had gotten a lot of those calls — and the apartment complex in front of them seemed just like all the others on the block: somewhat weathered, otherwise unremarkable.
     But inside, a woman was dead. Those who lived there told police the complex was a sober home for recovering addicts. They explained the woman had started using again. A lot of them were using again, they said, in the house meant to encourage sobriety. [emphasis added]
     The home was a drug users' den hiding in plain sight, police said, and officers were shocked.
Below is a video of State Representative Lori Berman at a recent Lake Worth city commission meeting. At the 1:00 minute mark she talks about the sober home legislation. She refers to it as a "good first start" and thanks Senators Hager and Clemens for all their hard work getting the legislation passed: