Distillations | Science History Institute

David Einhorn, former Jackson Laboratory counsel, offers legal perspective on the Oncomouse licensing fights. Ken Paigen, longtime Jackson Lab leader, explains how repositories and sharing sustained mouse genetics. Jessie Wright-Mendoza, reporter and narrator, recounts investigative reporting and interviews about Oncomouse. They discuss the 1988 patent, conflicts between patenting and academic sharing, institutional deals, and community resistance.

Tune in to the next episode of Distillations on November 20th!

"We should never, ever forget that addiction treatment is a search for meaning in a place other than using drugs." —Nancy Campbell, historian of drug addiction (This is the third and final chapter of a three-part series. See Part 1 and Part 2.) In the final chapter of this series we travel to the heart of our modern opioid crisis. In what is now a notorious Philadelphia neighborhood called Kensington, we meet two victims of the epidemic and follow them on two distinct paths toward recovery. Our current devastating opioid crisis is unprecedented in its reach and deadliness, but it's not the first such epidemic the United States has experienced or tried to treat. In fact, it's the third. Treating America's Opioid Addiction is a three-part series that investigates how we've understood and treated opioid addiction over more than a century. Through the years we've categorized opioid addiction as some combination of a moral failure, a mental illness, a biological disease, or a crime. And though we've desperately wanted the problem to be something science alone can solve, the more we look, the more complicated we learn it is. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Reporters: Mariel Carr and Rigoberto Hernandez, with additional reporting by Meir Rinde Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Photo illustration by Jay Muhlin Additional audio production by Dan Drago Music Music courtesy of the Audio Network. Research Notes Interviews: Claire Clark, author of The Recovery Revolution: The Battle over Addiction Treatment in the United States. Nancy Campbell, historian and director of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Chris Marshall, former member and director of the Last Stop. Miranda Thomas, Kensington resident. Joseph Garbely, vice president of medical services and medical director of the Caron Treatment Centers. Lara Weinstein, primary care physician, Project HOME and Pathways to Housing PA Special thanks to Jennifer Reardon of Temple Health Communications and to Joseph D'Orazio and David O'Gurek. Sources: American Addiction Centers. "Can Suboxone Get You High?" Brentwood, TN: American Addiction Centers, 2018. American Addiction Centers. "Pros and Cons of Methadone." Brentwood, TN: American Addiction Centers, 2018. Campbell, Nancy, and Anne Lovell. "The History of the Development of Buprenorphine as an Addiction Therapeutic." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1248 (Feb. 2012): 124–39. Clark, Claire. The Recovery Revolution: The Battle over Addiction Treatment in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. Giordano, Rita. "Opioid Addiction Treatment with Medicine Works Best. Why Don't More Young People Get It?" Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 2018. Oransky, Ivan. "Vincent Dole" [obituary]. Lancet 368 (Sept. 16, 2006): 984. Rockefeller University. "The First Pharmacological Treatment for Narcotic Addiction: Methadone Maintenance." Rockefeller University Hospital: 100 Years of Bridging Science and Medicine website. New York, 2010. Shuster, Alvin M. "G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam." New York Times, May 16, 1971. Thompson-Gargano, Kathleen. "What Is Buprenorphine Treatment Like?" Farmington, CT: National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment. Villa, Lauren. "Methadone and Suboxone: What's the Difference Anyway?" Drugabuse.com. Waldorf, Dan, et al. Morphine Maintenance: The Shreveport Clinic 1919–1923—Special Studies No. 1. Washington, DC: Drug Abuse Council, April 1974. Whelan, Aubrey. "She Was Just out of Rehab. She Was Excited about the Future. Three Hours Later, She Was Dead." Philadelphia Inquirer, June 26, 2018. Winberg, Michaela. "Kensington's Famous Last Stop Addiction Recovery Center Prepares to Move." Billypenn.com, March 26, 2018. Archival Sources: Efootage.com. Richard Nixon "Law & Order" Speech—1968. Video. John Chancellor. "Washington, DC Heroin Addiction." NBC Evening News. February 4, 1971. Columbia Center for Oral History. Marie Nyswander, oral history. New York: Columbia University Libraries, Oral History Archives, 1981.

Our current devastating opioid crisis is unprecedented in its reach and deadliness, but it's not the first such epidemic the United States has experienced or tried to treat. In fact, it's the third. Treating America's Opioid Addiction is a three-part series that investigates how we've understood and treated opioid addiction over more than a century. Through the years we've categorized opioid addiction as some combination of a moral failure, a mental illness, a biological disease, or a crime. And though we've desperately wanted the problem to be something science alone can solve, the more we look, the more complicated we learn it is. Part 2 focuses on a controversial rehabilitation program called Synanon, which became the first significant therapeutic community for opioid addiction. From the time it opened its doors in 1958, it seemed to do what no other hospital, prison, or sanitarium had done before: cure the supposedly incurable heroin addict. But over the years its changing methods became increasingly questionable, and the controversy would ultimately lead to its demise. Despite its faults Synanon had a profound influence on subsequent generations of drug treatment programs—many of which still exist today. CORRECTIONS: In the original episode we said that by the time John Stallone joined Synanon in 1965, stages two and three had been eliminated—meaning that there was no timeline for him to ever leave. In fact, the phasing out of those stages took longer to implement, and they were still in place when he arrived. This statement has been edited out of the updated audio version. In the original episode David Deitch says that he found his dog hanging by a noose outside his house, and he believed that a member of Synanon was responsible. However, this story did not happen to David Deitch but to another former Synanon member named Jack Hurst. This story has been edited out of the updated audio version. All other statements made by David Deitch have been corroborated by other sources. The original episode suggested that John Stallone left Synanon after the group's leaders started endorsing violence against children, but he left before years before the violence started. The original script read, "John left in 1972 because Dederich was asking parents to live separately from their children, to essentially turn them over to Synanon, and John and his wife didn't want to do that to their son. And they made the right decision." John Stallone: They started physically abusing the kids. They started using corporal punishment with the kids. They started hitting them and whatnot. It didn't turn out good at all." The audio version has been edited to replace "And they made the right decision" with "And years later something happened that made it clear they had made the right decision." Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Reporter: Mariel Carr with additional reporting by Meir Rinde Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Photo illustration by Jay Muhlin Music Our theme music was composed by Zach Young. Additional music courtesy of the Audio Network. Research Notes Interviews: Claire Clark, author of The Recovery Revolution: The Battle over Addiction Treatment in the United States. Nancy Campbell, historian and director of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. John Stallone, former Synanon member. David Deitch, former Synanon member, clinical and social psychologist, and emeritus professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. Sources: Claire Clark. The Recovery Revolution: The Battle over Addiction Treatment in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. Synanon Foundation records, Online Archive of California, oac.cdlib.org/. Synanon Foundation Oral Histories, UCLA Library, Center for Oral History Research, Los Angeles. David Deitch. "Conversation with David Deitch." Addiction X (May 3, 2002), 791-800. Hillel Aron. "The Story of This Drug-Rehab-Turned-Violent Cult Is Wild, Wild, Country-Caliber Bizarre." Los Angeles Magazine, April 23, 2018. Matt Novak. "Synanon's Sober Utopia: How a Drug Rehab Program Became a Violent Cult." Gizmodo, Paleofuture, April 15, 2014. Film excerpts from: The Distant Drummer: Flower of Darkness. Washington, DC: Airlie Foundation and George Washington University Department of Medical and Public Affairs, 1972. David, 1961, Drew Associates. Instant Guide to Synanon: A Compilation of the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Our Foundation. Synanon, 1973. The House on the Beach. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1965. YouTube, posted on February 29, 2008. Synanon. Richard Quine, director. Columbia Pictures, 1965.

In our next episode we're continuing our three-part series on the history of opioid addiction treatment in the United States. And we're going back to the early 1960s, when the foundations for our modern opioid addiction treatment system were being built--starting with a controversial drug rehabilitation program called Synanon. Tune in to our next episode, Synanon and the Tunnel Back to the Human Race, on September 18.

Our current devastating opioid crisis is unprecedented in its reach and deadliness, but it's not the first such epidemic the United States has experienced or tried to treat. In fact, it's the third. Treating America's Opioid Addiction is a three-part series that investigates how we've understood and treated opioid addiction over more than a century. Through the years we've categorized opioid addiction as some combination of a moral failure, a mental illness, a biological disease, or a crime. And though we've desperately wanted the problem to be something science alone can solve, the more we look, the more complicated we learn it is. Part 1 focuses on a government-run prison-hospital, the Narcotic Farm, just for people addicted to opioids. When it opened in 1935, it promised to find a cure for drug addiction. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Reporter: Mariel Carr with additional reporting by Meir Rinde Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Music Our theme music was composed by Zach Young. Additional music courtesy of the Audio Network. Research Notes Interviews: Claire Clark, author of The Recovery Revolution: The Battle Over Addiction Treatment in the United States. Nancy Campbell, historian and the head of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. John Stallone, former Narcotic Farm patient. Sources: Claire Clark, The Recovery Revolution: The Battle Over Addiction Treatment in the United States. The Habit, Opioid Addiction in America, Backstory. Inside the Story of America's 19th-Century Opiate Addiction, Smithsonian Magazine. Films: The Distant Drummer: Flower of Darkness The Distant Drummer: Bridge From No Place The Narcotic Farm

We're hard at work on our next season. Listen to the first episode on August 21st!

Chip Jacobs, historian and co-author of Smogtown, gives a concise bio as a scholar of Los Angeles pollution history. He traces the 1943 smog crisis, scientific breakthroughs that linked cars to smog, mobile air sampling and public outrage, and the rise of catalytic converters and laws that changed national policy.

Tune in to the next episode of Distillations on June 26!

Gene Likens, ecologist who discovered and tracked acid rain at Hubbard Brook, reflects on decades of research and controversy. He recounts how transboundary pollution was traced to smokestacks, the media’s role in making the crisis visible, industry pushback and personal attacks, and the political battles that led to eventual regulatory fixes.