Straight, Incorporated

Background
Straight, Incorporated was a nationally recognized non-profit drug rehabilitation program that produced hundreds of reports of abuse of adolescents and their families during its 15 years of existence. Despite allegations of abuse from escaped members and pending lawsuits, during its existence Straight won laudatory praise in Republican circles.

Straight, Inc. was founded on April 22, 1976 by Mel Sembler and started its treatment program on September 1, 1976.

This program was highly controversial due to the style of therapy it used, called "tough love" that has been likened to brainwashing. Various allegations of abuse and lawsuits led to the end of Straight, Inc. in July 1993.

Many former patients of Straight have formed 'survivor groups' assembling themselves in small numbers seeking a means to understand the trauma suffered and supporting one another in grasping the reality of what happened in their lives.