Explore the rise and fall of the Synanon organization — through the eyes of the members who lived it — from its early days as a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program to its later descent into what many consider a cult.
Synanon, the brainchild of Charles „Chuck” Dederich, began in 1958 as a storefront rehab serving heroin addicts. Synanon quickly grew, evolving into a complex system of businesses and egalitarian communal living led by Chuck and his wife, Betty. Over time, the therapies became increasingly extreme, devolving into paranoid behavior and cult-like mandates and culminating in charges of child abuse, assault, and even attempted murder.