Synanon is a US-founded social organization created by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr. in 1958 in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is currently active in Germany. Originally established as a drug rehabilitation program, by the early 1960s, Synanon became an alternative community centered on group truth-telling sessions that came to be known as the "Synanon Game," a form of attack therapy. The group ultimately became a cult called the Church of Synanon in the 1970s. Synanon disbanded in 1991 due to members being convicted of criminal activities (including attempted murder) and retroactive loss of its tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) due to financial misdeeds, destruction of evidence, and terrorism. It has been called one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen." Beginnings Charles Dederich, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), was known to speak for hours uninterrupted at AA meetings. Those suffering from addictions to illegal drugs were not always welcomed into AA because it was considered that their addiction issues were significantly different from those suffered by alcoholics. It is claimed that Dederich, after taking LSD, decided to create his own program to respond to their needs. He was said to have coined the phrase "today is the first day of the rest of your life". After his small group, called "Tender Loving Care", gained a significant following, Dederich incorporated the organization into the Synanon Foundation in 1958. Synanon is a word of his own invention integrating togetherness (“syn”) with the unknown (“anon”). Synanon began as a two-year residential program, but Dederich soon concluded that its members could never graduate, because a full recovery was impossible. The program was based on testimony of fellow group members about their tribulations and urges of relapsing, and their journeys to recovery. The Synanon organization also developed a business that sold promotional items. This became a successful enterprise that for a time generated roughly $10 million per year. In 1959, Synanon moved from their small storefront to an abandoned armory on the beach. In 1967, Synanon purchased the Club Casa del Mar, a large beachside hotel in Santa Monica, as its headquarters and a dormitory for those undergoing treatment for drug addiction. Later on, Synanon acquired a large building that had been the home of the Athens Athletic Club, in Oakland, California, and then transformed it into a residential facility for Synanon's members. Outsiders were