Prescott, Arizona, has long been considered one of the best “Wild West" types of cities in the state.

However, the growth of the behavioral health industry, particularly sober living homes (aka substance abuse recovery homes), is wreaking havoc on this once idyllic area in central Arizona, including neighboring Prescott Valley. There have been reports of up to 3,000 drug addicts a few years ago in downtown Prescott. It earned nicknames like "Recovery City" and has been frequently ranked among the top U.S. destinations for sober living homes.

It’s being driven by a trend in the courts to offer Arizona drug offenders their choice of jail or to go to rehab—with Prescott one of the locations offered—so of course the defendants choose rehab. 

Medicaid funds mental and drug rehab services. The launch of Obamacare started a massive increase in federal funding of behavioral health services, pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the industry. Prior to its passage in 2010, services for consistent mental and sober living care were not underwritten by most insurance companies, since the risks were considered uninsurable. 

Former Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, who lives in Prescott, said about sober living homes during a legislative hearing a few years ago, “We have some very unscrupulous ones … truly abusive homes.” She said investors buy up homes, place ads to recruit residents and charge them or their insurance expensive rates. Fann called the homes a “health, safety and fire........

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