Nicole Richie’s Alcohol Education

By: Shannon Gossage

Papers filed in the Superior Court of California on September 26 confirm that Richie has signed up for the course called SB 38 Alcohol Program. According to the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse the program is for people convicted of more than one DUI in a 7-year period. During the course of the program Richie will have to complete 52 hours of group counseling, 12 hours of alcohol education, 12-step meetings, and bi-weekly face-to-face interviews with counselors. Once she completes the program she is eligible to have her driver’s license reissued by the DMV.

Richie was arrested December 11 after leaving boyfriend Joel Madden’s home in Southern, California. She was spotted driving the wrong way on California’s Highway 134. She admitted to the officers who pulled her over that she had taken Vicodin and smoked marijuana before getting behind the wheel. Richie was sentenced July 27 to four days in jail and a $2,048 fine. She was also placed on three-year’s probation and ordered to take an alcohol education course. Richie spent 82 minutes in the Century Regional Detention Facility on August 24. She was released early due to the jails overcrowding.

Richie, 26, and Madden, 28, are expecting their first child at the end of the year. Last month the couple did an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer. The interview aired on Good Morning America and on 20/20. Richie told Sawyer when asked about the pregnancy, "Yes, I am. We are. I’m almost four months." Richie told Sawyer that she has changed saying, "No alcohol…No marijuana…No pills…Nothing…No smoking around me." Richie and Madden have been dating for about seven months and are reportedly living together now at Madden’s Glendale, California home. It has been rumored that the couple is planning a wedding in the near future.