Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...

Chairman PEPPEr.. The next witness is Mr. Robert F. Iloran.Mi\ Horan is the Commonwealth attorney for Fairfax County, Va,Mr. Iloran is a native of New Brunswick, N.J. He attended MountSt. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md., where he received liis B.S.degree in 1954. Following graduation, he was commissioned a secondlieutenant in the U.S. IMarine Corps and served as a Marine officeruntil 1958. Upon leaving active service, he entered Georgetown UniversityLaw School and earned his LL.B. degree. He served as an assistantCommonwealth's attorne_v during 1964 and 1965. In September 1965he resigned as assistant Commonwealth's attorney to become a partnerin a Fairfax law firm. His law partnership terminated in March 1967,when the circuit court appointed him Commonwealth's attorney to fillan unexpired term, and in November 1967 he was elected to that officefor a term of 4 years.Mr. Horan is a member of the Virginia State Bar, National DistrictAttorney's Association, Northern Virginia Trial Lawyers Association,Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity, the Marine Reserve Officers Association,and the Young Democratic Club of Fairfax County. He isa member and former secretary of the Fairfax County Bar Association.Mr. Horan is first vice president of the Virginia Commonwealth'sAttorney's Association, and in March of 1970 he becam.e the firstelected chairman of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice AdvisoryCouncil.Mr. Horan, we welcome your testimony.STATEMENT OF EOBEET F. HOEAH, JE„, COMMOITWEAITI! ATTOE-NEY FOE THE COTJI^ITY OF FAIRFAX, C0MM0IW7EALTH OF VIE-GINIAMr. Horan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.I am the chief criminal prosecutor for a jurisdiction containingupward of one-half million people. Prior to the year 1967, drug abuseas a problem in what is essentially a suburban jurisdiction was practicallynonexistent.Commencing in the fall of 1966 and early 1967, we had our firstonset of drug abuse, as did most of suburban America. One of thesignificant things that has happened to us and is pertinent for thiscomniittee is that in the last 18 months in that jurisdiction we havehad five provable methadone overdose deaths. We have had tv/o othersthat are probably methadone deaths. In the same period of time weonly had one heroin overdose death.r am here today because of my increasing concern about the directionin which we are being pushed in the area of methadone maintenance.It seems that everyone articulates the position that methadoneis not the panacea for heroin addiction, and yet in some quartersit seems that that is exactly how we are treating it.In my opinion, the news media has added massively to the confusionconcerning this drug. I sometimes get the feeling, and thatfeeling was amplified by the WTOP editorial last week, that somefeel that methadone equals rehabilitation, and if a jurisdiction doesnot have a methadone maintenance program they are simply not inthe rehabilitation business. WTOP's view, in my opinion, is patently