Kenneth Anderson, "Sanitariums, Hospitals, and the Belladonna Cure: Volume Three of the Untold History of Addiction Treatment in the United States" (The HAMS Harm Reduction Network, Inc., 2022)Kenneth Anderson, "Sanitariums, Hospitals, and the Belladonna Cure: Volume Three of the Untold History of Addiction Treatment in the United States" (The HAMS Harm Reduction Network, Inc., 2022)
New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
Kenneth Anderson talks with Emily Dufton about the hidden history of addiction treatment in the US, from secret cures and asylums to corporate rehab empires. Their discussion raises questions about evidence, coercion, and why many people recover outside formal treatment.
1:08:06•29 Apr 2026
Secret Cures, Asylums and Rehab Chains: Kenneth Anderson on the Untold History of Treatment
Episode Overview
- Secret cure institutes using strychnine and emetics treated the vast majority of people seeking help before Prohibition.
- Involuntary inebriate asylums were deeply unpopular, while voluntary inebriate homes and private sanitariums attracted very different social classes.
- The belladonna cure, heavily marketed by Charles B. Towns, had limited effectiveness and sometimes dangerous ideas behind it, despite its later link to AA’s history.
- Yale’s clinic and related projects showed that scientific study and outpatient care for alcohol problems were possible long before modern rehabs.
- Research highlighted that many people change their drinking without formal treatment, suggesting that recovery is common and often self‑directed.
“The normal outcome of alcohol use disorder is recovery.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation between historian and harm reductionist Kenneth Anderson and host Emily Dufton looks straight at the often-forgotten history of treatment in the United States – and why it matters if you're sober, sober‑curious, or working in services today. Across several hefty volumes, Anderson has traced how people with alcohol and drug problems were treated from the 19th century onwards.
You’ll hear about secret "cures" that relied on strychnine injections or powerful emetics, and how, before Prohibition, “about 90% of the people that got treatment got their treatment at one of the secret cure institutes.” He contrasts inebriate asylums, where people could be locked up for a year, with more open inebriate homes and pricey private sanitariums for the wealthy.
A big chunk of the chat focuses on the belladonna cure and the notorious Towns Hospital, later used by AA co‑founder Bill Wilson. Anderson explains that belladonna could ease opioid withdrawal and produce hallucinations, but that promoter Charles B. Towns mainly "was very good at marketing himself" and even floated horrific ideas like death camps for people who relapsed.
The episode then moves towards the mid‑20th century, Yale’s alcohol clinic, the rise of AA‑style retreats, and how large corporations and hospital chains built a booming 12‑step‑based industry once federal money arrived.
Anderson asks why hospitals adopted treatments with little evidence and points to research showing that an untreated group of heavy drinkers improved as much as the treatment groups: “The normal outcome of alcohol use disorder is recovery.” If you’re questioning traditional rehab models, interested in harm reduction, or just like to know how we ended up with today’s treatment landscape, this deep historical dive might change how you see your own options and choices.
What parts of this history feel uncomfortably familiar to you?
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