D.A. Decides Not to Pursue Meehan Probe

The San Diego County District Attorney’s office said Friday it would not pursue a criminal investigation into the controversial drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation programs operated by sobriety guru Bob Meehan.

The investigation was sought by critics of Meehan’s private SLIC (Sober Live-In Center) Ranch near Escondido and his now-defunct Freeway sobriety support program. They charged that Meehan used the free, nonprofit Freeway to funnel paying clients into his private, $5,000-a-month SLIC program.

Some parents, teen-age participants and former staff members also charged that Meehan’s philosophy--that being sober could be more fun than using drugs and alcohol--was carried to the extreme with encouragements of vandalism and antisocial behavior.

District Attorney spokeswoman Linda Miller said Friday that there was not enough information from Meehan’s opponents to warrant a full-scale investigation.

“It’s not our jurisdiction to say we like or don’t like the methodology, the philosophy or the effectiveness of his programs,” she said. “We just look at criminal behavior, and the allegations brought to us did not have enough information for us to go further with the inquiry.”

Meehan could not be reached for reaction, but his attorney, Bill McCarty, said the news “is great in the sense that it might get the media off his back. He’s always known he’s perfectly clean, but there’s already been all the damage to his programs.”

Escondido city officials said Friday that Meehan has filed the necessary papers to conduct his newest business, a teen-age, daytime drop-in sobriety center on East Valley Parkway. The program is designed after the Freeway network of satellite centers which encouraged teen-agers to spend their time with sober peers. Unlike Freeway, which was free and operated under a community-based board of directors, the new program costs $10 a day and is governed solely by Meehan.

Freeway went out of business last month after negative publicity about it and SLIC Ranch brought fund-raising efforts to a standstill.

The state Department of Social Services, meanwhile, is continuing its investigation into whether SLIC Ranch needs a group-home license to operate. State officials have said it should because it houses youngsters under the age of 18 who need care and supervision, while Meehan has argued that he is exempt from state licensing because the teen-agers only sleep at the facility and receive actual therapy and counseling elsewhere.

A similar investigation is being conducted by authorities in Arizona, where Meehan operates another SLIC Ranch.