So we should kick out the sober houses and keep the "medical" pot stores? If those of u crying so loud over the sober houses put ur energy towards more positive venues perhaps we would have a better area to live. I am not afraid of the sober house. So many people havr lied sbout what is going on there. They are there to help people not hurt anyone including the neighbors. The residents there arent out car-jacking ur kids nor are they putting dog poop on doors. They are too busy doing the next right thing to bother you. Yes it is a business...of saving lives.

people moving into a sober living house are making active efforts to improve their lives and to begin to adjust to the consequences of earlier decisions. this is a heavy, important moment in their lives.

this is a dificult process to begin with, made more dificult by suspisious neighbors watching there every move, acting with hostility and aggression. lets give these people a chance. maybe they'll be more likely to quiet their dogs if they can recognize their neighbor as the person who smiled at them on the sidewalk earlier. maybe we can stop by their houses and introduce ourselves, show a little neighbor friendliness. what if you had a barbecue and invited them over for a visit?

i think we would have more of a right to challenge their presence here if we first gave them a chance as neighbors.

These places are no-tolerance facilities.If you are worried about having drug deals going on rest assured.Most of the sober houses drug test on a regular basis if not every day.Its the last place youll find dealers hanging out in front of and the last place someone living there will want to be if they fall off the wagon.

What do you do when you need sober living? not de-tox, re-hab, or treatment, but sober living. answer that first, before you regulate or you may be hurting yourself or someone you love. I have been running sober livings for 16 years. "For profit" my butt. If you don't know anyone in recovery, you live on a different planet. If a flop house is in your nieghborhood, shut them down. it's as easy as pie.

Los Angeles County has been working hard the past few months in trying to get the "sober Living" industry regulated. This has come from years of efforts by one man, Ken Schonlau, who ran the Sober Living Network and trained individuals on the regulations of running a sober living home, legally. Those homes that belong to the coalition have been approved in many ways and even have to go through a walk through. I believe the sober living coalition was formed to address issues such as getting homes legalized and legitimized and separated from rogue "I wanna make a buck" sober livings that cater to persons not in recovery or not working a 12 step program. I think I heard los angeles county was going to start to manage these sober living homes, the sober housing network would know. You could probably get more info about this at: www.soberhousing.net
There is always going to be sober living homes that pop up and close down here and there. These homes are needed, but suffice it to say, you are going to have different clientele in a sober living say in Sherman Oaks than one in pacoima, so don't get your panties in a bunch. Most sober livings I know are higher rent in nicer areas, so I don't think you'll have alley/street/prison people living near your $600,000 home, especially if their bed rent is $3,500...and someday, your wife or son may need a sober living instead of jail. Judges are sentencing addicts and alcoholics to sober livings all the time....

I've known more than a few sober house or recovery people and have been lied to, stolen from and B.S'd by a lot of them more so than from sober people. I know people who haven't touched a drug or a drink for many years, I trust them because they have earned the trust and respect and are repsonsible for their actions unlike newbees. So I can say with experience that I wouldn't want a recovery house near-by. House rules are for people that follow them.

I was walking up Vista to Runyan Canyon Thursday afternoon. A good hike from Clinton. It was sometime shortly after 2, as long as it takes to walk four blocks, not long. There were L.A.P.D. and fire trucks in the middle of Vista. When I asked what was going on a neighbor said it was a problem the sober house. It was unsettling enough I went back home. It is really not something we should have unregulated in residential neighborhoods. And on the corner of Willoughby and Vista is a child care facility. That, or octomom has moved there. The place is crawling with young children. And not knowing fully what a sober house is it made me really unsettled. This is one of the first on line discussion groups I have seen on sober houses. It is very eye opening.

I worked for nearly 20 years in a recovery home simalir to what is now in our area. Trust me, if a resident relapses, the last place they want to be is back at their sober living home. You will find them to be the best and most trusted neighbors. They have "house" rules to live by and if not followed they will be evicted from their sober living. Don't worry if they live there... worry if they have no where to live.
Try getting to know them BEFORE you judge them.

It only makes sense that the AA people are causing some problems. 1. They attacked a neighbor who was at a meeting to learn about what is happening on her block. 2. Placed Dog S**t on a family's door handle. Who else would have a reason for this then those it effects and the very next day after the meeting.... Why are there so many cars, visitors, loitering and strangers on the bock since they have moved in?. If you want them around offer them a place to sleep in your home.

Until you become a victim of one of their crimes. Remember what they do when they backslide which most do until they get it right. Why don't you have some of them stay at your place?

i think all of the questions in the poll are a "yes." and all of the concerns are justified. opening your home to this activity for profit seems to be a relatively new and/or creative, and apparently growing business model that the city has never had to address just as medical marijuana businesses, and all of their attendant problems are. it's a serious problem for many reasons and needs to be addressed now.

Like the comments of "If" below me, there are many, many people I know who have benefited from sober living houses and who have gotten their lives together through recovery-- including me. But there needs to be some oversight and/or regulation so that we feel that these temporary residents of our neighborhood are behaved when outside the walls of their recovery house.

I know some legitimate complaints of harassment coming from neighbors to one of these houses, and we definitely need to keep an eye on them. But I caution against scare tactics and NIMBY attitudes... for the few bad apples we hear about, there are probably many more people getting back on their feet because of a second or third chance. And, frankly, I am more worried about the illegal drug activities and homelessness problems in Poinsettia Park than I am of sober living houses.

But please, let's keep the discussion going on this.