The Narcotic Farm: The Rise and Fall of America's First Prison for Drug Addicts - Hardcover

J. P. Olsen; Nancy D. Campbell; Luke Walden

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810972867 ISBN 13: 9780810972865

Publisher: Abrams, 2008

Synopsis

From 1935 until 1975, just about every junkie busted for dope went to The Narcotic Farm. Equal parts federal prison, treatment centre, organic farm and research laboratory, the Farm was designed to rehabilitate addicts and help researchers discover a cure for drug addiction. Although it began as a bold and ambitious public works project, the Farm was shut down forty years after it opened amid scandal over its drug-testing program, which involved experiments where inmates were being used as human guinea pigs and rewarded with heroin and cocaine for their efforts. Published to coincide with a documentary to be aired on PBS, "The Narcotic Farm" includes rare and unpublished photographs, film stills, newspaper and magazine clippings, government documents, as well as interviews, writings, and anecdotes from the prisoners, doctors and guards to trace the Farm's noble rise and tumultuous fall, revealing the compelling story of what really happened inside the prison walls.

About this title

About the Author:

Nancy D. Campbell, associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, writes about drug policy, science and culture. She lives in New York, USA. JP Olsen is a filmmaker whose work has appeared on The Discovery Channel and many other stations. Luke Walden is a filmmaker and editor whose most recent documentary camera credit is 2006's To Be a Peacekeeper, a film about UN peacekeeping in war-torn countries. Olsen and Walden live in New York, USA.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0810972867
• ISBN 13: 9780810972865
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208