Detoxing the Demos

On November 10, 1970, a coalition of the Young Lords, Black Panthers, and the Health Revolutionary Unity Movement occupied the sixth floor of Lincoln Hospital and set up a detox clinic to counter the heroin epidemic ravaging the South Bronx. The next day, hundreds of people lined up to receive treatment, legitimating the takeover and cementing its place in the community for the next eight years. At the time, Walter Bosque was a member of the Young Lords; he recounted the experiment at a seminar organized by New School faculty. According to Bosque, now a licensed acupuncturist and certified NADA trainer, the entire goal was to steer “the people toward a revolutionary approach”—not just to healthcare but to community self-management. fuse medical treatment with political education. Though it was short-lived, The People’s Detox demonstrated its basic claim: that addiction is a political problem and can only be resolved through political means.

The takeover of Lincoln Hospital is a direct action worth remembering. It was not simply an occupation but a liberation of city …