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Scientology Center Plans Expansion

A drug rehabilitation center with ties to the Church of Scientology is planning a 60-bed halfway house in Clearwater, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Suncoast Rehabilitation Center of Spring Hill has filed paperwork for a facility in Clearwater, home to the church’s headquarters. However, no one with the center or the Church is revealing details, the Times reports.

Suncoast treats patients using Narconon, a drug-free program under scrutiny in several states for possible connections to patient deaths, the Times reports. Suncoast has no connection to these cases, and has received sterling scores from state inspectors, the Times reports.

(Editor's note: Health News Florida posts links to major articles about Scientology because of the church's general opposition to psychiatry, psychotropic medications and other aspects of traditional approaches to mental illness.  The church was started by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s; its spiritual headquarters is in Clearwater.)

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.