author
b. 1862
Best known for founding the Charles B. Towns Hospital in New York, he became an influential — and controversial — figure in early addiction treatment. His work also connected him to the wider history of drug policy and, indirectly, to the story of Alcoholics Anonymous.
by Charles Barnes Towns
Born in Georgia in 1862, Charles Barnes Towns rose from a rural background to become a businessman and promoter of treatments for alcohol and drug addiction. He is chiefly remembered for developing the Towns cure and for founding the Charles B. Towns Hospital, a private New York institution that became well known in the early 20th century.
Towns also took part in efforts around drug-control legislation in the United States during the 1910s. At the same time, his methods drew serious criticism, and his reputation in the medical world declined as doctors questioned the claims made for his cure.
He remains a notable figure in addiction history partly because the Towns Hospital later treated Bill Wilson, who would go on to co-found Alcoholics Anonymous. That link has kept Towns in the historical record as a complicated pioneer: energetic, influential, and still debated.