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Friday, 28 September 2007

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Nicole Richie enrolls in anti-drinking program

As a repeat offender, the Simple Life star will now start 18 months of treatment

Nicole Richie, who is six months pregnant, has enrolled in a lengthy rehabilitation program, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Papers filed with the Superior Court of California show that on Sept. 26 Richie signed up for a 18-month anti-drinking driver course, known as the SB 38 Alcohol Program.

SB 38 is for people who have been convicted of DUI on more than one occasion within a 7-year period, the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse states on its Web site.

The program consists of 52 hours of group counseling, bi-weekly face-to-face interviews and 12 hours of alcohol education, according to the council. Participants are also encouraged to attend 12-step meetings.

Last year, Richie, 26, was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 11 after CHP officers were alerted to a black Mercedes SUV driving the wrong way down Southern California's Highway 134.

She was booked for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs after failing a field sobriety test and admitting to police that she had smoked marijuana and took Vicodin earlier that evening. At the time of her arrest Richie was en route from the home of Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden, with whom she is expecting the baby.

This July 27, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail, fined $2,048 – and forced to sign up for the driving rehab course because she was previously convicted of DUI in June 2003.

On Aug. 24, Richie served a scant 82 minutes in jail.

Last month, Richie also told Diane Sawyer during a lengthy interview that she has cleaned up her act. "No alcohol ... No marijuana ... No pills ... Nothing ... No smoking around me," she said.

By Pete Norman