Watch The Synanon Fix: Did The Cure Become a Cult?

When the Los Angeles Times reports on Synanon

As his behavior becomes increasingly abusive, Chuck turns Synanon's school into a military-style bootcamp for delinquent children where corporal punishment abounds. Then, when his wife dies, Chuck quickly remarries and issues a shocking new directive

By the 1970s, Synanon boasts its own farm, a school, and multiple businesses, but Chuck's utopian vision begins to crack. As members face more extreme edicts, many find themselves weighing the benefits and costs of the choices they're forced to make.

Recovering alcoholic Chuck Dederich opens a storefront drug rehabilitation program that gains a following through its confrontational talk-therapy approach. As the program attracts non-addicts and celebrity followers, Synanon expands across the country.