'Potty Pete' Makes Another Try at Cleaning Up

LONDON, Dec. 1, 2006— -- It seems as if you cannot pick up a tabloid newspaper in Britain without running into a story about Pete Doherty -- or "Potty Pete," as one paper called him -- or a paparazzi snap of him with his on and off girlfriend, supermodel Kate Moss.

But it's not his lyrics or his band, Babyshambles, that gets the limelight; rather, most of the articles cover his drug addiction and court appearances. This is why he is also known as "the country's most famous drug addict."

It was no surprise he made the papers again last week. "Clean up your act or lose me" is the edict that Moss allegedly laid down. The rocker has been battling a crack and heroin addiction for years and after many failed attempts at rehab, he is seeking help again.

However, as conventional rehab has not been effective for him, Doherty has reportedly done a recent stint in a rehab clinic in Portugal, where doctors implanted a pellet that releases the drug naltrexone into his abdomen to help him kick his habit.

The implant, which can last from a month to six months, is meant to reduce the cravings by sending messages to the brain and nervous system. This opiate blocker has been in use for almost a decade; the implant is a preferred method because the drug only works as long as the addict remembers to take it.

There are reports Moss is funding the treatment, but her agent was unavailable to comment.

Dr. Michael Farrell from the National Addiction Center in London calls the treatment "interesting" and points out that it is "still in development and remains an experimental treatment, but there are advocates who do report its advantages."

However, Dr. Farrell warned, "there are risks if the patient returns to heroin because you are more sensitive to it.

"In Australia there are concerns from drug-related overdose deaths when the implant wears off."

The last few years have been a blur of arrests and detox for the musician.

In a recent documentary, the singer spoke about returning to using drugs after rehab and the long-term consequences. "There [are] a lot of [criminal] charges piling up --