Cashed-up can detox in private

HIGH flyers struggling with drug addictions can check into a new private “home detox” clinic where they will be carefully protected from prying eyes – for a cool $1000 a day.

The Gold Coast Detox and Rehab Centre opened this week at a secret address at Currumbin and is set to attract cashed-up addicts from interstate and the Gold Coast.

“We’re expecting people from around the country to get on a plane and fly here, which is why we’re close to the airport,” Janine Elliott, a director of the new facility, said.

“The Federal Government is promoting home detox as the program of the future and we’re one of the first home detoxes in the country.”

The private clinic is in a three-storey designer home overlooking the sea and is aimed at high-end addicts looking for privacy, comfort and care.

“We have two categories of clients – (one is) business people who are at risk of losing their jobs because of their addictions,” Ms Elliott said. “They need help fast, so the six-week waiting list at other detox facilities on the Gold Coast is not suitable for them.

“A 10-day detox here will cost $10,000 and then they can get back to their lives, their earning potential and their families, so it’s quite a small price for them to pay,” she said.

“An ice addiction can cost you $1000 a day anyway.”

Ms Elliott said the other category involved young adults whose concerned parents had identified their addictions as a family emergency.

She said the new centre offered a detox program of seven-28 days but most people would do a 10-14-day detox. A few clients could stay for another week of rehab at the most.

Ms Elliott said there was no Medicare or private health rebate for her clients, unlike other detox and rehab services on the Gold Coast.