Lohan Joins Celeb Rehab Revolving Door

July 25, 2007 — -- It was in her pocket, but the cocaine wasn't hers.

That's the latest statement from Lindsay Lohan, who is back in rehab for the third time after being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence and cocaine possession early Tuesday morning.

"I am innocent … did not do drugs they're not mine. I was almost hit by my assistant Tarin's mom. I appreciate everyone giving me my privacy," Lohan wrote in an e-mail to "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush, the show reported on its Web site Tuesday night.

Just in time for the Friday release of her latest film, "I Know Who Killed Me," Lohan, 21, joins the ranks of celebrities like Robert Downey Jr., who has been in rehab four times, and Daniel Baldwin, who has checked into rehab nine times.

These celebrities and many others have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment at posh rehab centers that from the outside look more like spas. To outsiders, rehab for Lohan, arrested less than two days after checking out of Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, Calif., seemed to be more of a vacation than a cure.

"Didn't she just leave that rehab center in Malibu? Promises? I hope she kept the receipt," Jay Leno joked on his show Tuesday night. "What is the Promise? They keep the room ready for you?"

Is it possible that luxury inhibits recovery and that the pampering is counterproductive? Those who run such facilities say no.

"It's not like it's this incredible spa, like they get massages in the morning and at night. … That's a joke. It is a treatment center," said Howard C. Samuels, the executive director of the Wonderland Center in Malibu. "They're up at 7:30 in the morning. They have to make their bed and if they don't know how to make their bed, we teach them."

Wonderland, one of the facilities Lohan attended, costs $40,000 a month and offers special services for clients in the entertainment industry, such as a sober escort to a film set.

Samuels, a recovering addict, argues that the extras help get reluctant patients in the door. The perks ensure that "the addict or alcoholic doesn't have an excuse not to come into treatment," he said.

Recovery All About Patient's Commitment

The Betty Ford Center, started by the former first lady, has a stricter reputation as a rehab facility, but it has famously attracted its fair share of celebrities over the years, from Liz Taylor to Keith Urban.

There, celebrities pointedly get the same treatment as anyone else, including daily chores like cleaning the bathroom.

"They're distraught and frightened and very sick," Betty Ford said in a 2002 interview with ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas. "And then, weeks later, I see them and they have a smile on their face."

Many experts say that bells and whistles aren't necessarily a detriment if the center's treatment program is a good one.

"A treatment can be good if it has amenities or if it doesn't have amenities," said Jon Morgenstern, the vice president of the National Center on Addiction at Columbia University. "My concern about all those amenities is, if so much attention is being paid to those amenities how much attention is being paid to treatment?"

William Cope Moyers, an addiction treatment specialist and vice president of the Hazelden Foundation, said it's the addict, not the facility, that determines whether or not a treatment will be successful.

"It requires the patient to take part in the process," Moyers said. "So whether it's a posh facility in Southern California or the Salvation Army in Minneapolis, treatment will work. But it requires compliance and investment of time, energy and money on the part of the patient."

'Stop Running,' Expert Says

As Lohan struggles with her addiction, she also faces criminal charges that could get her up to six years in jail.

Court TV anchor Lisa Bloom said that a judge could sentence Lohan to a long-term treatment center, but she will likely serve at least some time in jail.

"She's a recidivist drunk driver and a danger behind the wheel, and I think a judge will look at that and she'll probably serve a couple of months behind bars," Bloom said.

Moyers said that Tuesday's arrest could be the wake-up call Lohan needs to get clean.

Lohan should "stop running from whatever it is that haunts her," said Moyers. "She needs to face the consequences. She needs to take personal responsibility."