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)

About this episode

Kenneth Anderson discusses his series on the history of addiction treatment in the United States, focusing on three recent titles.

Author and experienced harm reductionist Kenneth Anderson is back on the New Books Network to discuss the three new titles in his series exploring the history of America's addiction treatment industry. We discussed the first two books of his series, Strychnine and Gold, in 2022. Today, Emily and Ken discuss the books he's published since: From Inebriate Asylums to Narcotic Farms (2022), which covers the inebriate asylum movement of the 19th and early 20th century, which sought to rival the insane asylums of the era; Sanitariums, Hospitals, and the Belladonna Cure (2022), which covers the history of for-profit institutions for the treatment of drug and alcohol habits which were established prior to the Repeal of Prohibition, as well as a number of miscellaneous entities such as mail-order opium cures; and Alcoholism Treatment Rebirth (2025), which covers the alcoholism treatment facilities established between the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and 1956. Anderson has produced this series of encyclopedia-like compilations of America's vast network of treatment facilities to satisfy his own curiosity, but his work benefits the reader, too. Serious scholars of American drug and alcohol…

People in this episode

Host: Emily

Guest: Kenneth Anderson

Topics covered

• addiction treatment history
• harm reduction
• American drug history
• treatment facilities
• Prohibition
• primary sources

Keywords

• addiction treatment
• harm reduction
• inebriate asylums
• Prohibition
• drug history
• treatment facilities
• primary sources

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HAMS Harm Reduction Network, Inc.

Books & works: Sanitariums, Hospitals, and the Belladonna Cure, From Inebriate Asylums to Narcotic Farms, Alcoholism Treatment Rebirth

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