Abuses such as overdoses and
resale of supplies were very
common.)
The problem must now be
handled in a different way in
order to meet today's much
more difficult conditions.
The federal government,
probably through the U.S.
Public Health Service, should
be able to open clinics in
places where the problem is
acute and to permit desig­
nated physicians to take over
similar functions in smaller
places. The purpose of these
clinics would be to cure or al­
liviate addiction, to wipe out
the illegal narcotics traffic and
to eliminate crime by addicts
in need of drugs.
Any person regardless of
age, should be able to come
into one of these federal
clinics and register as an ad­
dict filling out a form. S(he)
would be required to state that
it was h is/her desire to be
cured of addiction and would
pledge co-operation with the
physicians. Naturally, because
of the nature of his \her af­
flication, this pledge would in
no way relax the extreme care
and close supervision which is
always necessary. In other
words, the physicians 'in
charge would not agree to
believe everything they were
told.
The addict would then get
thorough physical examina­
tion to determine whether
(he) w truly an addict and
to what degree. Great care
ould necessary to prevent
the deliberate picking up of
the h bit or reversion to it by
the former ddicts, and this
scrupulous medical ttention
would be photographed and
hislher fingerprints sen ot the
FBI to check the legitimacy of
hislher identification and to
prevent registry at another
clinic under another name.
Each registrant would receive
a tamperprpof card with
his/her signature, address if
any, photography, and
fingerprint ,on it Correspond­
ing records with space for
recording each medication'
given would be kept at the
clinic office.
The addict's identificaiton
cleared, the physicians in
charge would proceed to
determine how much of what
drug s(he) had been taking
and what quantity might lead
to a balanced dosage. A
balanced dosage is the smal­
lest aniount which will keep an
addict reasonably free from
nightmarish withdrawal
symptoms. Its establishment is
far from easy and may take
weeks, even months, or care­
ful watching, recording and
analysis. But it is an important
step on the long hard road to
recovery.
At this point three irnpor­
tant things will have been ac­
complished for the addict
himself/herself. First s(he)
will have gone onto the least
harmful drug which will satisfy
his/her need; second, s(he)
know how much s(he) really
needs; third, s(he) will be
released from the tension of
worry over where the next
dose is coming from. A
gradual relaxation may be ex­
pected to follow which will
make a balanced dosage and a
reasonable attitude easier to
establish. An actual cure
would DO be attempted until
much later, in a few cases per-:
, haps never. There would be no
urgency to get an addict off
drugs in a hurry, since this
would defeat the whole pur­
pose of the clinic by driving
him b c to the illegal market
Dosages would be careful­
ly measured and recorded, nat
cut, as is universally done in
the illegal traffic. Instruments
would be sterile not con­
timinated Advise would be
freely given, questions honest-
lyanswered
The dosage established
would always be dispensed at '
the clinic. Neither prescrip­
tions nore a supply - not even
enough for one day would be
putin the hands of the addict
to carry away. Whether the
price of each dose, regardless
of the size, would nominal.
Thi ould cover the a al
cost of the drug. Pauper ad­
dicts would be treated for free.
Each registered addict
would be given a booklet on
the first visit explaining the
medical facts of his/her af­
flication. (he) would watch
educational films and listen to
lectures. S(he) would have
what psychiatric help could be
made available. His/her per­
sonal, home, employment if
any, and other problems'
would be discussed with social
workers and job specialists.
Efforts would be made to find
him/her a job. S(he) would be
referred to religious counsel
of his \her choice. Whether
contrite or not, s(he) would be
. treated as a person with
I serious problems, as a medical
and social case, not as a
criminal,
No registrant would ever
formally be told s(he) was in­
curable, even though the doc­
tors thought so. Hospitals
treating drug users would
remain open and would be
more effective because the
clinics ould provide follow­
up treatment, advise and aid
not now available to the dis­
charged addict. Patients of
both hospital and clinics
would in fact be required to
report to the clinic for check­
ups at intervals for sometim
after their cure had been ac­
complished, if indeed it had
been accomplished.
13
FIrst, itwould provide every
addict who registered with
complete information about
addiction and what could be
done for it
Seco d, it would place his
photograph and fmgerprints
on file. The primary purpose
would be to prevent duplicate
registration in another clinic.
But it would also be easier to
catch up with addicts who in
spite of the removal of their
needs for big money get into
trouble. ,
Third, while criminal ad­
dicts could be caught more
easily, this program would it­
self make crime quite un­
necessary for most addicts as
indicated above. In addition it
would make addicts very wary
of criminal activities because'
not only would they most cer­
tainly get caught but once
caught they would be subject
to the ordeal addicts most fear
- immediate, total witltdrawl
of their drug supply. It might
even, in some cases, lead to
speedy reform of minor
criminal tendencies.
Fourth, many experts
believe that the program
would virtually wipe out the il­
legal drug traffic by removing
the profit from it (Only ad­
dicts afraid to register would
have to pay high illegal.
prices.) If no stigma and no
publicity (the news media
would have to give their full
co-operation) were attached
to registry few would avoid it
And the cap ure of un­
registered criminal addicts
would become far easier.
Fifth, the program would
give youths the true facts of
addiction and make them
more amenable to cures,
which are much ea ier for
youn� people than [or old and­
much easier for new addicts
than for th e of long stand­
ing. Thus it would reduce both
the number of addicts and the
degree of their addiction.
ixtb and thi is m st im­
portant - it would tend to
save teenagers from addic­
tion. At present teenagers get
their first doses free. Once
"hooked" they must pay and
through the no e. However,
from the peddlers point of
view, what would be the use of
giving away expcnsiv drugs to
get another custom r, if the
minute addiction w estab­
lished s(he) was I t to the
federal clinics? And the ped­
dlers who sold drugs only get
his own supply, as many do,
would immedia tely remove
himself/herself fr m the
market. It would no longer be
necessary to make sa by in­
fecting young people who"
knew no better. S (he) could
get his/her own supply at the
clinic, and help advise with it
Se entb, it would provide
medical information which we
now sadly lac
Certainly, the proposed
federal clinics ould no solve
all the drug problems. Hospi­
tals woul still be needed, and
narcotics police to prosecute
the illegal traffic and intema-
tional agreement and co­
operation. But without such
clinics all our present efforts
are useless; with them as an-in­
tegral part of the plan there is
promise of a s lution.
Wb t are t obj tion to thi
plan?
Many people feel that
nothing should be done for the
addicts, that they are w rth­
less, vicious and dangerous
and that the only real answer
is to wipe them off the face of
the earth. In 1936 the hine
government of hiang Kai­
shek was calmly shooting
many as a hundred of them at
a time for no aim other than
smoking opium - which ac­
rually kept tbem ut ftr ubl
by putting them sound asJeep.
Our Western culture would
recoil from such inhumane
methods even if they were ef­
fective. In China they were not
effective. The reason is quit
simple. You can not just kill all
addicts because you can not
find all addicts and the one
you don't find will infect
others to pr teet their own
supply. You can kill people of
whom you are blindly afraid
for no good re n but when
you have finished you will b
no better off. Y u imply have
a fresh crop.
Other people rai e their
hands in horror at the SU1 es­
tion that the federal govern­
ment dispense drugs to ad­
dicts. Well, addicts get their
drugs anyway, Why not give it
to them und r controlled afe
conditions instead of driving
them into the criminal jungle?
Why" shouldn't the govern­
ment dispen dru , if y 0
doing it can Her the condi­
tion of the addi ts, harply
reduce crime, hla: ( the ilJegal
narcotics racket and, f!1 t im-
p rtant of all aye its y uth
fr m a living death?
"Addicts w n't reg' ter say
other critics. Mayea few of
them w n't. But )0 the first
day the New York City clinic
opened in 1919 n t I than
1, did re istcr, nd others
tr ped in on the Ioll wing
days. \ '
everal addict objected t
the idea of tting dope nlyat
the clinic. "S me need a . h >t
every three or C ur h urs,"
they said. But unfortunately
the experience of the twenties
indicates that this is the nly
way dose can be giv n
without cheating by addicts.
It' more trouble nd m re
costly but it is the only way to
prevent fraud and afe guard
the program. However, there
ar various ways of increasing
the intervals between d ses
when pysicians are in charge
and it' quite unlikely that this
w uld be a eri us problem
except in a few cases which
ought to be hospitalized
anyway. These clinics would
be run Ie for comfort and
convenience of addicts than
for the good of the nation.
"It would co t too much."
<;ODtlQUed 0 P 22
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