Reaping a Sad Harvest: A "Narcotic Farm" That Tried to Grow Recovery [Slide Show]
A federal prison in Kentucky was a temporary home for thousands, including Sonny Rollins, Peter Lorre and William S. Burroughs as well as a lab for addiction treatments such as LSD
Reaping a Sad Harvest: A "Narcotic Farm" That Tried to Grow Recovery [Slide Show]
- CAPTIVE TALENT: The original caption for this photo, which appeared in a 1951 New York World-Telegram & Sun , read: "The brighter side of Narco--a jam session by patients who formed their own orchestra." Drugs sent many jazz musicians to the Narcotic Farm, who often performed for fellow inmates, staff and residents of nearby Lexington, Ky... Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection
- REVOLVING DOOR: The original caption for this photo, which appeared in a 1951 New York World-Telegram & Sun series on the Narcotic Farm, read: "This desperate narcotics addict, caught like his fellows in the revolving door of law enforcement, will probably go back to his habit when he is free."
As the book notes, one of the most important contributions Narco to our knowledge of drugs was the view of addicts "as people suffering from a chronic, relapsing disorder that affects public health," says book co-author Nancy Campbell, an associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., who studies the history of scientific research on drug addiction... Robert E. Stigers - THE GREAT EQUALIZER: Although two thirds of Narco's population consisted of convicts arrested for drugs, the other third were volunteers who checked themselves in for treatment. Volunteers could leave at any time, whereas inmates could not--but all patients wore the same clothes, worked the same jobs, ate the same food (according to the book, author William S... Lexington Narcotics Farm Collection
- DRUG HEADS: The apparatus in the middle of the picture was designed to test the mental reactions of those under the influence of morphine. For instance, the experimenter read certain words at the patient to see how fast they responded by pushing a button that turned on the lights... Arthur Rothstein
- HIGHS AND LOWS: A laboratory inside the Narcotic Farm. The Addiction Research Center at Narco was devoted to answering some of the most fundamental questions about addiction, such as what accounted for high rates of relapse or why some drug users became addicted whereas others did not... Arthur Rothstein