“Rehab is for quitters”

“Rehab is for quitters” is a popular saying that has been printed on many gift items, such as T-shirts and posters. The saying has been cited in print since at least 1996 and is of unknown authorship.
 
 
2 August 1996, Boston (MA) Globe, “Politics aside, Jesus Lizard just wants to have fun” by Jim Sullivan, pg. E12:
Runner-up: “Rehab Is for Quitters” (nice double meaning there).
 
18 May 1997, European Stars and Stripes, pg. 18, col. 3:
Bumper mania redux
(...)
Rehab is for quitters.
 
24 July 1997, Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, “Aliens, drug symbols latest teen wear trends” by Krista Larson, pg. 3B, col. 2:
“Rehab is for quitters,” proclaims a T-shirt.
 
14 January 1999, Detroit (MI) News, “Risks of binge drinking don’t faze college students”:
A waitress wearing a shirt that says “Rehab is for quitters” hands Lentine a beer.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Last call for alcohol : healing a marriage harmed by alcohol abuse
Author: Susan Erling Martinez
Publisher: Edina, Minn. : Tjsusan.com, 2001.
Edition/Format:  Book : Biography : English
Contents:
(...)
13. Rehab is for quitters—
 
Google Books
How Soon Is Never?: A Novel
By Marc Spitz
New York, NY: Three Rivers Press
2003
Pg. 6:
They sell a T-shirt in the tourist shops on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village that says Rehab Is for Quitters. Every time I pass it. hanging in the window. it makes me shudder. I may be a lot of things but I ain’t no quitter.
 
Urban Dictionary
rehab
A place for quitters.
Rehab is for quitters.
by TheGreatSantini Feb 29, 2008