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Seeking help but finding a scam in sober homes

Scandal afflicts some ‘sober homes,’ where recovering addicts must agree to drug testing by labs closely tied to landlords

By Patricia Wen

 |  Globe Staff  

  April 01, 2012

Two years ago, Donald Ahlgren faced a dilemma common among the legions of indigent drug addicts just out of detox programs: He needed an affordable place to live that wouldn’t reject him because of his past. To his surprise, he had his pick of places. They were called sober homes, and he thought they were serious about helping him end his addiction. But he quickly realized that sober homes and drug-testing labs were mostly interested in profitting off him.

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