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

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

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268Mr. Horan, let's back up a little bit. Over in Fairfax County, thosethat are on drugs, the kids that are on drugs, a high percentage ofthe users are on marihuana ; right ?Mr. HoRAx. Well, a less high percentage all the time. In 1967 onecase out of every 10 would be a stronger drug than marihuana. Bylast year it was one case out of every four. I think there has been areal graduation of marihuana users.Mr. Winn. The percentage of those who were on marihuana haveswitched and gone to the harder drugs in the percentage of one outof four now ; right ?Mr. HoRAN. Yes.Mr. Winn. All right. Physicians prescribe all kinds of drugs fordifferent things, which is within their realm. It is a little hard forme to comprehend that all the bad guys are in the District of Columbia,physicianwise, and all the good guys are in Fairfax County.Mr. Horan. I wouldn't want to create that impression although,you knowMr. Winn. I think maybe we have.Mr. Horan. In fairness to our medical society, I would say absolutelythat one of our real sources of help out there has been the medicalprofession. I think they police themselves.Mr. Winn. That leads me into the next question : Do you think itis because of the strength of the Fairfax County medical society thatthey are keeping a stronger and tighter rein on the doctors and physiciansover there that might be prescribing, say free lancing, methadonecompared to the District of Columbia ?Mr. HoRAN. Yes, sir. I think that is probably part of it. I thinkanother ])art of it is the fact that when the drug phenomena hit us in1966, medicine got in the act early, and medicine began taking a lookat this subject that they knew nothing about.Let's face it, the average physician, if he is below age 25, he neverhad a course in medical school that involved the three main abusedrugs in society today, LSD, marihauna, and heroin. They aren'ttaught in medical school because they have no therapeutic value.Mr. Winn. They are still not being taught now ?Mr. Horan. Well, GeorgetownMr. Winn. But not nationwide ?Mr. Horan. No ; it is not.So medicine, first of all, in a community such as mine, has got toget into the act to understand it to begin with, because they are in aforeiirii field, just like every layman out on the street.Our medical society did that. Our medical society took a good hardlook at prescribing practices, which I think is really the key.I think medicine has got to look at themselves and say what are wedoing.Mr. Winn. Right. That clarifies that, because I don't think youreally made that clear, at least I didn't get it that way in the earliertestimony.Now, the Drug Control Act is basically controlled again by eachState. That would go right along with the same vein of thinking,depending on which State is really going to clamp down and wliichones are going to close their eyes to some of the acts ; right ?

269Mr. HoRAN. That is right.Mr. Winn. Which would come into effect possibly again becauseof the control and the District of Columbia control might be lighterthan in Virginia.Mr. HoRAN. I think that is right.Mr. Winn. Okay.Well, I don't know about Baltimore—how about Baltimore?Mr. HoiLVN. I never had all that much experience with Baltimore.Mr. _ Winn. All right. You mentioned several times the history ofthe jail cases, and I understood you to say that you have a system, Ibelieve you referred to some hours and you said 24 hours as an averagefor getting them detoxified ?Mr. HoRAN. Most of the time, they are detoxified in 24 hours.Mr. Winn. Twenty-four hours ?Mr. HoRAN. That is without anyMr. Winn. Yes ; right.Mr. HoRAN. "\^^ierever it is felt that they need help to come down,it is all over in 48 hours.Mr. WixN. Then you use methadone ; right?Mr. HoRAN. Jail physicians prescribe Dolophine in a certain amountand that is what the prisoner gets and it never goes over 48 hours.Mr. Winn. What is their reaction to the methadone within that48-hour period ?Mr. HoRAN. It all depends on what kind of addict they are.Mr. Winn. Give us the worst example and give us—and the lightestone obviously would have no reaction, probably. The heaviestMr. HoRAN. One of the things you constantly have to watch for isthe kid who comes in there and the first thing he is saying when thatjail door closes is, get me the methadone, because the word is outamong that breed that you can get this stuff if you qualify and youmay have a rruy coming in there that isn't really any addict at all, andhe wants methadone because he is going to get high.Two davs in jail high beats 2 days in jail any other way. So he wants^it._Mr. Winn. How does he get hisfh on oral methadone that istakenwith Tang?Mr. HoRAN. Anybody who says you don't get a high on methadoneis dreaming. I am talking about you and I. The problem is—and I seethe newspapers constantly use this term—a "noneuphoric substitutefor heroin"—it is not a noneuphoric substitute.If you are talking about a guy who has been in the vein 5 years,yes; but you know, you could do anything to that guy and it is goingto be noneuphoric compared to heroin. With most other people weget a high.Many women today in hospitals after a very difficult delivery, theprime druff used the following day after the delivery, if the womanis in pain and having problems, is what they call in the hospital Dolophine,and that is methadone, same drug. They give her Dolophine.You talk to anv woman who has ever hpd Dolophine and ask her ifit is euphoric. She says, "You bet your life. That is the reason theygave it to me. it lifted my spirits and killed the pain. That is whythey gave it to me." It does have a definite euphoria on the scale.

268Mr. Horan, let's back up a little bit. Over in Fairfax County, thosethat are on drugs, the kids that are on drugs, a high percentage ofthe users are on marihuana ; right ?Mr. HoRAx. Well, a less high percentage all the time. In 1967 onecase out of every 10 would be a stronger drug than marihuana. Bylast year it was one case out of every four. I think there has been areal graduation of marihuana users.Mr. Winn. The percentage of those who were on marihuana haveswitched <strong>and</strong> gone to the harder drugs in the percentage of one outof four now ; right ?Mr. HoRAN. Yes.Mr. Winn. All right. Physicians prescribe all kinds of drugs fordifferent things, which is within their realm. It is a little hard forme to comprehend that all the bad guys are in the District of Columbia,physicianwise, <strong>and</strong> all the good guys are in Fairfax County.Mr. Horan. I wouldn't want to create that impression although,you knowMr. Winn. I think maybe we have.Mr. Horan. In fairness to our medical society, I would say absolutelythat one of our real sources of help out there has been the medicalprofession. I think they police themselves.Mr. Winn. That leads me into the next question : Do you think itis because of the strength of the Fairfax County medical society thatthey are keeping a stronger <strong>and</strong> tighter rein on the doctors <strong>and</strong> physiciansover there that might be prescribing, say free lancing, methadonecompared to the District of Columbia ?Mr. HoRAN. Yes, sir. I think that is probably part of it. I thinkanother ])art of it is the fact that when the drug phenomena hit us in1966, medicine got in the act early, <strong>and</strong> medicine began taking a lookat this subject that they knew nothing about.Let's face it, the average physician, if he is below age 25, he neverhad a course in medical school that involved the three main abusedrugs in society today, LSD, marihauna, <strong>and</strong> heroin. They aren'ttaught in medical school because they have no therapeutic value.Mr. Winn. They are still not being taught now ?Mr. Horan. Well, GeorgetownMr. Winn. But not nationwide ?Mr. Horan. No ; it is not.So medicine, first of all, in a community such as mine, has got toget into the act to underst<strong>and</strong> it to begin with, because they are in aforeiirii field, just like every layman out on the street.Our medical society did that. Our medical society took a good hardlook at prescribing practices, which I think is really the key.I think medicine has got to look at themselves <strong>and</strong> say what are wedoing.Mr. Winn. Right. That clarifies that, because I don't think youreally made that clear, at least I didn't get it that way in the earliertestimony.Now, the Drug Control Act is basically controlled again by eachState. That would go right along with the same vein of thinking,depending on which State is really going to clamp down <strong>and</strong> wliichones are going to close their eyes to some of the acts ; right ?

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