Photo by Christian Mclean

The Sheltered Islander By Sally Flynn

Should the Ram's Head Inn Become a Drug Rehab?

The following quote is from a three-page document that was distributed to Ram Island residents by Safe Harbor Retreat LLC, a drug rehab with (as of March 11) no website, no business listing that I could find. Nothing in Google searches. No phone number provided on this document for inquiries.

"To The Community of Shelter Island: We believe that now is an opportune time to provide information and review issues related to the planned Safe Harbor Retreat at the Ram's Head Inn. It is our hope that this overview shows benefits connected to establishing the Safe Harbor Retreat on Shelter Island..."

There will be a meeting Saturday, March 15 at 2 p.m. (per Reporter) in the Shelter Island School Auditorium, run by Safe Harbor, to inform the Shelter Island residents of the benefits of the opening of a drug rehab on the Rams Head Inn.

Let's see, a drug rehab on the corner of a street of multi-million dollar homes that are empty most of the year, gee, what could go wrong?

The document cites a long list of benefits for the Island, including jobs, and increased property values for Ram Islanders.

Let's look at a few more benefits:

Although they promise the patients will be supervised on walks, the ones who sign out won't be. Since it's not a locked facility, people will be able to sign out anytime. (Although you are discharged if you sign out.) This allows the residents of Ram and Shelter Island the chance to meet all kinds of interesting people - since the literature says their target clientele are CEOs and high-level professionals. I'm sure they'll all be nice, I'm sure none of them will be in the rehab because of a court order.

They promise all kinds of jobs for Islanders.

This is true. There will be more work for the police handling a nice variety of situations, perhaps helping to manage an unmanageable resident, or untangle a relationship problem gone bad. I wonder if the Town could send the drug center a bill for services rendered?

Then, since they have no medical facilities, and there might be the occasional relapse and overdose, it will give our ambulance more to do and increase justification for more funds from the community.

I'm sure they'll bring in their own professional staff, but they'll need grounds keepers, cafeteria people and other support staff.

There's bound to be a lot more to write about for the Reporter, so that will increase jobs there, and I bet I'll get a ton of material from the drug rehab because the rehab staff will think they can keep a secret on Shelter Island. HA!

Our kids will enjoy access to better drugs. Drug addicts bring drug connections and drug connections bring drugs. Maybe it wouldn't happen - but what if it does? What could we say to the parents of an overdosed kid? "Sorry, we didn't think opening a drug rehab would indirectly cause a drug overdose in the community." There's no more reason to assume a drug rehab will bring drug access than there is to assume that a bar will bring alcoholics.

Although the patients will be shuttled about in vans, their friends, relatives, fans and maybe even paparazzi might come to visit. That will be great for the ferry, but hell for the ferry lines. The rehab promises no paparazzi, but how can they stop the press? It would be awful to have a lot of cars with telephoto lenses sticking out clogging up the entrance to Ram Island.

But they promise it will never happen. They say they'll be so quiet, we'll never even know they're here. I'm sure we can all just take their word for it. After all, the rehab only has Shelter Island's best interests at heart. It's not like the bottom line is profit or something.

If they say no celebrities, it must be true. I absolutely believe that they'll turn down any amount of cash to avoid admitting someone whose presence will draw paparazzi. I can just hear the admitting person say, "Listen Paris, we'd like to admit you, but you'll draw the press like flies to honey. So, here's your $200,000 a month back. We don't want the locals to be mad at us." They'd never throw our worries to the wind and say, "Sure, we'll admit you. You need us. The community will just have to get over it." Really, would a cash-based drug center break its promises for more cash? Ah, say it ain't so.

If this drug center gets through, I say let's go for broke and turn the Chequit into a casino. If we're going to sell out, lets go all the way!

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