From a Washington Post obit by William Branigin headlined “David Mitchell, Pulitzer-winning editor who exposed a cult, dies at 79”:

The drug rehabilitation program in California had started out as a nonprofit run by a former alcoholic who preached tough love and won acclaim for his approach to treating addicts.

Over the years, it evolved into a religious cult called the Church of Synanon with millions of dollars in income, draconian practices that included forced sterilizations and abortions, and its own militia that violently attacked defectors and critics.