Betty Sembler and Straight Inc.

Betty Sembler

Watching the documentary White Savior: Racism in The American Church tonight with its segment on the American Indian Boarding schools that separated native children from their families and stripped them of their heritage, I thought of Straight Inc., the discredited program that sought to reprogram marijuana-using teens in the US from 1976 to 1994. 

Straight Inc. co-founder Betty Sembler died this week, and her otherwise glowing obituaries briefly mention that the program "was shut down amid allegations of abuse and excessive force." 

Sembler, along with her husband Mel, was a high-profile antidrug crusader for decades. According to news accounts, Mel was a lifelong Democrat until he objected to Jimmy Carter's pro-legalization stance after one of the Semblers' sons began smoking marijuana. The Semblers made millions developing shopping centers in Florida, and fundraised so well for Republicans that George H.W. Bush named Mel ambassador to Australia, and George W. Bush made him ambassador to Italy. 

Reportedly, Betty was among those who suggested Nancy Reagan take on drugs as her pet cause, and Reagan gave her stamp of approval to Straight Inc., as did former NIDA head Robert DuPont. The program operated 43 centers in 18 states across the US over its 19-year run. Dubbed "warehouses" by participants, the ACLU called them "concentration camps for throwaway teens." 

Straight Inc. in action

"Our parents dropped us off, wrote a cheque and walked away," wrote Cyndy Etler for a 2019 article in The Independent. "Like the immigrant children separated from their families at the U.S. border, we wouldn’t talk to our parents again for 10 months, a year—sometimes, depending on the kid, longer."

The California Department of Social Services shut down the Straight Inc. facility in Yorba Linda, CA in 1990, citing a record of "unusual punishments" at the facility, such as denying teenagers sleep and bathroom breaks. The state also cited intimidation and ridicule of clients in the peer-pressure model it used. 

 

A 1993 Florida Inspector General audit found that despite “a propensity for abuse or excessive force,” Straight Inc. facilities kept getting licensed. “It appears that pressure may have been generated by Ambassador Sembler and other state senators,” the report stated, suggesting Sembler was aware of the abuse allegations. 

Over $15 million in lawsuits were settled against Straight, Inc. by former participants. One was Fred Collins, who told his story about having his ribs broken while being forcibly restrained by other teens in the program on 60 Minutes. Collins and others say they were not permitted to leave the program, or contact their parents. One, Phil Hirschkop, successfully sued for false imprisonment, winning a judgement of $200,000 and helping to shut down the Straight, Inc. northern Virginia facility. 

From the Drug Free America Foundation Website 

In 1995, Straight Inc. was renamed the Drug Free America Foundation, and ceased operating residential treatment centers, instead focusing on pushing anti-pot propaganda. In 2016 the Semblers donated $1 million to a political committee that opposed a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana in Florida, and Mel was named a vice chair of the Trump Victory Fund.

Betty also served on the board of DARE America, the controversial drug education program that studies have shown tends to increase drug use among teens. When the Tampa Bay Times asked for her opinion on Trump’s “sometimes crude and frequent false statements,” she replied that Trump is “an unconventional politician…whose style is to approach problems with a hammer he’s not afraid to use.” Apparently, she wasn't afraid to use one either.