Former Member of Synanon

This past Thursday, April 14, we had two guest speakers come into class. One was a woman named Naomi and she was born in Synanon. A real life person who was born in Synanon, not just someone we have read about. It was really interesting to hear her stories about what life was like for her in Synanon. Synanon was described as "The hippest, coolest drug program in the world, until it wasn't" this was said by our other speaker, Don.

Naomi was borin in 1971 in Synanon when it was in Santa Monica. She made a connection between the books/movies The Hunger Games and Synanon. She told us that the two were similar to each other. After she told us this, she began reading to us from something she wrote about her time in Synanon. She began to tell us how she was very connected to music and that her dad was in the Synaon band, Sounds of Synanon. She also told us that her father's first wife was killed in a drug deal gone bad. Her father had tried to her his wife to come to Synanon, but she would not do it. Her father remarried and had had her and her siblings.

Despite what was going on in the world during the time when Synanon was around, it was a very multicultural place. People of many ethnic backgrounds were welcomed there. Charles himself was a white man and his wife was black. Naomi went on to tell us that drug addiction used to be classified as a mental illness. Naomi told us that Synanon was force to move from their Synanon location. She also said that she believes the move was the first step in turning Synanon into a cult. It went from a community to a cult.

Synanon moved to West Marin. In 1977 all couples in Synanon were to break up and marry someone new, sort of like an arranged marriage. Naomi's father did not want to divorce and marry someone else. Because of this, her father and his wife were kicked out of Synanon. After this happened, the leader, Charles, would always refer to Naomi's father as "that asshole Crawford". Even sixteen year olds had to get "love matched" as well. A love match is like an arranged marriage, but not a marriage because they did not do legal marriages there. All men over the age of sixteen were forced to get vasectomies. Children were thought to get in the way of what Synanon was trying to accomplish.

However, there were some children in Synanon. People had kids before the new vasectomy 'law' was initiated. The kids lived in dorm like buildings. It was sort of like a military institution. Naomi told us that people in Synanon were not really nurturing towards the children. This included her own mother. Her mother had her, but it was up to the rest of the community to raise her. She gave birth to Naomi, but was not really a mother. She did not have any maternal instincts. Even the kids had to have their heads shaved. To Naomi, having a shaved head was a normal part of life.

Naomi then began to tell us about the violence of Synanon. She told us that there were some "heinous crimes against outsiders". She remembers hearing Charles say "put a fucking rattlesnake in his mailbox". As we have come to know, Charles was talking about lawyer Paul Morantz. Morantz represented a man who was beaten by some members of Synanon because he supposedly ran some kids off the road when they were riding their bikes. The members of Synanon were kept in the dark about the violence that went on. They did not find out about the violence until later on. 

When Naomi was twelve years old, her father tried to get custody of her. Synanon would not let him, they would send him death threats. He decided to stop trying to get custody of her and she was left in Synanon. 

Naomi realized that she was not 'normal' one day when she and some others went out. She encountered two other young girls. The girls asked Naomi and her friend if they were boys or girls (they both had shaved heads at the time). This made Naomi feel really bad and realize she was different, that her life was different. 

Naomi told us that doctors and dentist were on site, members did not have to go out somewhere to see their doctors or dentists. The vasectomies were done on site as well. The doctors were squares, they were not dope fiends like the members. Another interesting thing that Naomi told us was that the Black Panthers and the Hells Angels protected Synanon. They would protect them when they did rallies.

Kids in Synanon also had to play the game. They would watch the adults and then have to play the game themselves. There was a big difference though between the game that kids played and the ones the adults played. The adults were able to keep the mentality of 'what happens in the game stays in the game'. Kids were not able to do that. What happened in the game they took with them outside of the game. What happened in the game would get to them. 

Naomi left Synanon in 1989 when she was seventeen. She went to community college in Santa Cruz and then went to Davis. She now has children of her own. She finds that she has the mother instinct, the one that her own biological mother did not have. 

When asked if Synanon did not become violent, would it still be around, Naomi told us this:

"The status changed and became a church. Synanon then started a business and became all about money making. This created a hierarchy between people. Some people had more money than others. It was not longer equal. The IRS ultimately brought Synanon down." They started a business for profit and they were church and were not supposed to do that.

Naomi told us that when Charles began to drink again, all of Synanon drank. Synanon drank alcohol on Saturdays. Naomi also told us that most of the kids, including herself, found Charles to be scary. She never wanted to be in a situation were she had to talk to him. There was just something about him that never sat right with her. In Naomi's words, "he was scary to be around".