Leonard Buschel

Leonard Lee Buschel is an American publisher, substance abuse counselor and author of HIGH: From Cannabis to Clarity. He is the co-founder of Writers in Treatment, which supports recovery and the arts, and for 15 years was the executive director and Founder of the REEL Recovery Film Festival, focusing on stories of addiction and recovery.^[1] Since 2013, Buschel is the founding publisher and editor of the weekly Addiction/Recovery eBulletin, with 21,000 subscribers and an Open Rate of 45%.

Leonard Lee Buschel
Born	Leonard Lee Buschel Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Publisher, Editor, Author, Drug Counselor
Known for	Co-founder, Writers in Treatment Founder, REEL Recovery Film Festival Editor/Publisher Addiction/Recovery eBulletin
Website	writersintreatment.org reelrecoveryfilmfestival.org addictionrecoveryebulletin.org

Early life and education

Buschel grew up in the Logan community of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Camp Rockhill in Quakertown Pennsylvania. He attended Philadelphia Community College and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He received a substance-abuse counseling certificate from Los Angeles City College in 2005.

Career

In 2007, Buschel, with Robert Downey, Sr., co-founded Writers in Treatment, which assists individuals in the writing profession suffering from addictions to receive scholarships and recommendations to reliable treatment facilities.^[2] Buschel also participates in numerous addiction and recovery conferences.^[3]

In 2009, he founded the REEL Recovery Film Festival, which takes place each year in Los Angeles,^[4] Las Vegas, Denton, Texas, New York City, Vancouver, and several other cities,^[1] with proceeds used to help send people to substance-abuse treatment.^[5] Celebrities attend their respective screenings at the REEL Recovery Film Festival, including Ben Stiller and Danny Huston in 2009.^[6] Buschel sold the REEL Recovery Film Festival in 2025 to Tim Cheney.^[7]

Buschel created the annual Experience, Strength and Hope Awards, held in Los Angeles since 2009 and dubbed the Recovery Oscars by The Fix online publication.^[8] Writers in Treatment has honored actor Joe Pantoliano,^[9] a recovering alcohol, food and sex addict, known for his role on the HBO series The Sopranos.^[10] Other recipients have included astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Lou Gossett, Jr., Mackenzie Phillips, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Pat O'Brien, Ed Begley Jr., Carrie White, Duran-Duran's John Taylor, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Leigh Steinberg, and Jodie Sweetin. ^[11]

Since 2013, Buschel is the founding publisher and editor of the weekly Addiction/Recovery eBulletin, with 21,000 subscribers and an Open Rate of 45%.

In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Buschel kept the REEL Recovery Film Festival going by moving to a virtual format. With over 80 films shown to an audience from around the world, the festival maintained an online presence.

In 2025, Buschel's memoir/autobiography, High: From Cannabis to Clarity, was published by Henry Gray Publishing. It recounts his journey from drug dealer to drug counselor and also explores his early life in Philadelphia. Three weeks after his birth, Buschel’s father died suddenly. Growing up fatherless had a profound impact on his formative years and may have contributed to his early substance use.

Awards

In 2012, Buschel's Writers in Treatment was applauded as a champion of recovery and the arts in Los Angeles by 7th District Councilmember, Richard Alarcon, from a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the City of Los Angeles for helping men and women in the writing industry overcome substance abuse and mental health problems.

In 2015, Buschel was named a recipient of the 2015 Acker Awards for Film Curation.^[12] The same year, Karen Bass presented Buschel the Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition from the United States Congress for his outstanding and invaluable services to the community.

The following year in 2016, Buschel was given the Link Award by In Recovery Magazine for promoting recovery "using film, panel discussions, and speakers to understand and encourage compassion for people living with addictive disorders."^[11]

The California Legislature Assembly awarded Leonard Buschel their 2016 Certificate of Recognition with the following statement: "On behalf of the State of California and the residents of the 46th Assembly District, it is my honor to thank you for your outstanding work in promoting recovery among filmmakers with the 8th Annual Reel Recovery Film Festival. Your dedication is an inspiration to us all and I wish you the best success on all your future endeavors." Signed, Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, 46th Assembly District.^[13]

In 2019, Buschel received a Certificate of Recognition from The California State Assembly upon receiving the New Era Award, for his commitment to supporting substance abuse prevention and violence prevention programming.

Personal background

Buschel is a former drug dealer who now has 31 years of clean and sober recovery from drugs and alcohol. As a young adult, Buschel pursued various entrepreneurial enterprises in his professional life, most of which allowed him world travel as a freelance photographer. He was chief executive editor and marketing director for Logan House publisher's 1996 "Algae to the Rescue! Everything you need to know about blue-green algae." Buschel is a 1994 alumnus of the Betty Ford Center.^[14] To help fellow writers from novelists to screenwriters and journalists obtain the help he once sought, Buschel told the Jewish Journal, he co-founded the Writers in Treatment organization.^[15] He is the brother of journalist and producer, Bruce Buschel.