>From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: "Straight" gets bent >Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 17:48:04 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > >Here is a report sent to me on a Drug War program once as praised as DARE. >We'll be reading more and more of these exposes in the years to come. > >The meltdown has begun. > >Enjoy, > >Peter > > > > >Subject: Former Straight official settles for $4.5 million. >New Jersey Law Journal tells story of "Quack Victim". > >Press Release. From Oakton Institute for Cultic Studies, Jan 28, 2000 > >Background. In his 1986 book, "The Great Drug War," Dr. Arnold >Trebach, founding director of the Drug Policy Foundation, devoted an >entire chapter to the horrows of the Straight drug rehab chain which >specialized in treating affluent white kids for drug addiction. There >were numerous accusations of beatings, of unwarranted restraints, of >spitting in people's faces in a bizarre treatment modality the clients >dubed 'spit trherapy', and of food and sleep deprivation. Straight >horrors are documented in Dan Baum's "Smoke and Mirrors" and the book >"Drug Warriors and their Prey." Canadian Dr. Barry Beyerstein of the >Canadian Foundation for Drug policy called Straight's methods >brainwashing in "Strategies for Change" and fellow Candaian and Simon >Fraser University professor Bruce Alexander likened Straight's methods >to brainwashing in his book, "Peaceful Measures: Canada's Way Out of the >'War on Drugs'." High Times did an expose on Straight in the mid 90's. >World-renowned drug treatment specialist Stanton Peele is an outspoken >critic of Straight. > >Latest Development. Straight's former national clinical director, Dr. >V. Miller Newton, discussed at length by Trebach, has just agreed to >settle for $4.5 million for abusing a former client at one of his >programs which still used many aspects of the Straight-like motif. >Check out the story in the New Jersey Law Journal at >www.njlawjournal.com which tells the story of a "quack victim." The >article also mentions Straight's former national director Bill Oliver. >Mr. Oliver went on to become director for parent training at PRIDE. > >Straight's influence on American drug policy. Nancy Reagan once pushed >one of Miller Newton's book's on national television. Former White >House Drug Czar Carlton Turner, who spoke at a Straight fund raising >dinner in May 1982, endorses the front page of Miller Newton's book "Not >My Kid" with the words "Not My Kid should be required reading for any >parent concerned about their children's future." Former White House >Drug Czar Donald Ian Macdonald, who had had a son in Straight, once >spoke at a PRIDE conference and gave high praise to Miller Newton. On >March 2, 1988, Macdonald had breakfast at the White House with George >Bush and former Straight training director Dr. George Ross at which time >he publicly announced that everything he learned about drug addiction he >learned from Ross. According to newspaper reports, on December 6, 1988, >Florida's governor Bob Martinez met with George Bush and later had lunch >with Straight's co-founders Mel Sembler and Joseph Zappala. Later Bush >appointed Sembler Ambassador tod Drug Free America Foundation. In 1992 >Tampa's Channel 13 Eyewitness News discussed a document which stated, >"John Martinez, former governor of Florida, will work with Straight on >our licensing issues." When Drug Czar Martinez was asked whether this >document referred to hiom, he declined to comment. > >Republican Clayton Williams had a son in Straight. When he ran >unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in the early 1990s he boasted that >he would build $100 million worth of Straight-like programs all over >Texas. Republican Congressman Frank Wolf helped bring Straight to >Virginia. Former Virginia Governor Charles Robb is quoted in Straight >brochures as is former Florida Congressman Charles Bennett. Former >Republican Senator from Florida, Paula Hawkins once accused the >Washington Post of being a traitor in The War on Drugs, for, among other >reasons, giving Straight, Inc. bad press. She lost her seat to Bob >Graham in 1986, but so what. In court deposition Dr. V. Miller Newton >has stated that his former business partner was Grahm's chief of staff >when Grahm was governor of Florida, and he claimed to be good friends >with Bob Graham. > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: