A Noteworthy Anniversary: The Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic

Marion Trottmann

Fifty years ago, young people from all over American descended on San Francisco in what was billed as "The Summer of Love." Historians have often portrayed this event as the detonation point of a youth-oriented, polydrug culture whose legacies continue to ripple. The Summer of Love events served as a catalyst for a new social institution: the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic founded by Dr. David Smith. The Haight-Ashbury Clinic and its leaders occupy a unique niche in the history of medicine and the history of addiction treatment and recovery in the United States. I had the opportunity in 2013 to interview Dr. Smith about the birth and evolution of this now iconic Clinic and his larger body of contributions to the addictions field. I commend this interview to my readers. You can access the interview by clicking HERE.