Leonard Lee Buschel overcame addiction and has devoted his life to giving back to writers in recovery by creating a safe and supportive outlet. Leonard was born into an idyllic Jewish family in North Philadelphia - - he had loving parents and a three-year-old brother. At just two weeks old, Leonard was dealt a blow that would derail the solid middle-class path that was laid out in front of him. His father suffered a fatal heart attack on his way home from his job as postal clerk. 

As a boy, Leonard gravitated toward the corner candy store where the local bookie and a group of cigar-smoking, streetwise philosophers who bought and sold hot merchandise, became his father figures. 

It wouldn’t be long before Leonard got into smoking marijuana. What’s worse is that he wouldn’t go a day sober for roughly 40 years. After decades of struggling with an addiction that led him to become a drug dealer, Leonard was ‘struck sober’ and has happily been so for 27 years. 

He is the founder of Writers in Treatment as well as the director of the REEL Recovery Film Festival and Symposium, which he founded in 2008. Leonard also is the editor and publisher of the weekly Addiction/Recovery eBulletin as well as the producer of the annual Experience, Strength and Hope Awards in Los Angeles. He recently published his memoir, HIGH: Confessions of a Cannabis Addict, which is a stunning account of his drug-dealing days and near-death experiences. The REEL Recovery Film Festival: Writers in Treatment is multi-day event is a celebration of film, the arts, writing and creativity. Showcased are filmmakers who make honest films about addiction, alcoholism, behavioral disorders, treatment, and recovery.