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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?368effectively, then maybe we will have an effect on it. But in order to dothat, we have to have the full support and the will of the people.One of the places I stopped at during this trip was Japan. Ten yearsago Japan was in a condition very much like our own. Today theyclaim that drug abuse is now under complete control. I asked thepolice how they did it, how they arrived at that happy state of affairs.The most important thing they told me was that they had the supportof the people to do what had to be done in order to get it under control.Regrettably, I don't think we have that support here, yet.Mr. Mann. Thank you.Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Chairman Pepper. Mr. Sandman.Mr. Sandman. Do you believe that they really have it undercontrolMr. Ingersoll. They certainly don't have the problem that we have,Mr. Sandman.Mr. Sandman. Now, the figures that you gave, Mr. Ingersoll, I don'tknow whether I understood you correctly or not. Were those figures ofarrests in 1970—1,146—were they just arrests in Southeast Asia?Mv. Ingersoll. They were made in South Vietnam by militaryauthorities.Mr. Sandman. And the first 3 months of this year it jumped to1,082?Mr. Ingersoll. Yes, sir.Mr. Sandman. Now, the percentage figures that you used, of a thousandmen in the armed services in that area, how many would yousay liaA^e been exposed to the use of an opiate ?Mr. Ingersoll. Theoretically, all of them have had the opportunityto use it.Mr. Sandman. I mean those who did use it.Mr. Ingersoll. I don't laiow that I can give you an answer beyondthe data that I provided before, Mr. Sandman. Anything else wouldeither be a recitation of the surveys that the military have taken,which indicate that in some groups, in some units, the rate is 10 to 15percent who have reported the use of it.Mr. Sandman. You mean one out of every 10 men in the armedservices have used an opiate ?Mr. Ingersoll. No, sir. That isn't what I mean at all. I mean if youtake the lower enlisted grades who were in two different units, one ina group coming home, one in a holding-type of unit, and if you projectwliat was reported from surveys in those organizations to the entiremilitary forces in the country, then you comd say that. But what Iam saying is that of the few hundred people, and I can't rememberhoM- many people answered these questionnaires, some 10 or 15 percentof that group said that they had used heroin at one time of another.Mr. Sandman, Based upon that kind of a finding, you can hardlyput much value on that ; can you ?Mr. Ingersoll. That is my point. That is why I do iiot attach asignificant value as applied to the military at large.Mr. Sandman. Right. So the point I am making, sir, tliese astronomicallyhigh figures cannot be accurate. No one can make me believethat one out of every 10 soldiers has used lieroin, or anything like it.

369Mr. Ingersoll. I agree. The problem is primarily found in theyounger age groups and the lower enlisted grades.Mr. Sandman. I agree.Now, if you ban the growing of opium entirely—I don't know theanswer to this question—would it have a drastic effect upon the pharmaceuticalindustry? Are these drugs needed? Can they be replaced?Mr. Ingersoll. I think that industry representatives could answerthat question better than I can ; but from the information I have, theprincipal therapeutic substance that is derived from opium right now,codeine, cannot be replaced adequately, and certainly not at the sameprice, as economically or as easily as codeine is used. Codeine hasantitussive, analgesic, and mild sedative characteristics. All of theseare necessary for treating some very common ailments, and nobodyhas found the way to either synthesize codeine itself or to come upwdth an alternative that has all three of these characteristics.Mr. Sandman. Now, within the United States, what would 3^ou sayyour percentage of increase in the use of heroin, the opiates was in1970 as compared to 1960 ?Mr. Ingersoll. I can't answer that question, Mr. Sandman.Mr. Sandman. In round figures, has it been a drastic increase?Mr. Ingersoll. In that 1-year period?Mr. Sandman. Yes, sir.Mr. Ingersoll. No, sir. I think the drastic increase occurred duringthe 1960's.Mr. Sandiman. Right. In fact, you haven't had the rate of increasein 1970 at all, have you, that you know of ?JMr. Ingersoll. It is hard for me to answer that question becausewe don't have accurate statistics. Over the years some data have beencollected which are not representative of the entire population.Mr. Sandman. That is it. Of the 50 States, how many States doyou feel have statistics on the use of the opiate drugs that are worthanything at all?Mr. Ingersoll. Probably two.Mr. Sandman. Two. And what States are those?Mr. Ingersoll. New York and California.Mr. Sandman. I agree with you. The others have no statistics thatare worth anything. And New Jersey is one of those.You have only 15 men in all of Southeast Asia, 15 agents, which, ofcourse, is not nearly enough to do the job I am sure you want to bedone. Now, in the 50 States, even the big metropolitan States, you havethe same kind of a problem ; don't you ?]\Ir. Ingersoll. As far as our own personnel strength is concerned,yes.Mr. Sandman. All right. Now, how about as far as the State personnelare concerned ?Mr. Ingersoll. This is something that has changed in the last coupleof years. In 1968 there probably were not more than a few hundredState and local police officers who were truly expert in the field ofdrug control. During the last 2 years we have trained and orientedsome 40,000 police officers throughout the United States in varyingdegrees of intensity. The results, particularly in cities where we havetrained not only specialists but uniformed officers, have shown great

?368effectively, then maybe we will have an effect on it. But in order to dothat, we have to have the full support <strong>and</strong> the will of the people.One of the places I stopped at during this trip was Japan. Ten yearsago Japan was in a condition very much like our own. Today theyclaim that drug abuse is now under complete control. I asked thepolice how they did it, how they arrived at that happy state of affairs.The most important thing they told me was that they had the supportof the people to do what had to be done in order to get it under control.Regrettably, I don't think we have that support here, yet.Mr. Mann. Thank you.Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Chairman Pepper. Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. Do you believe that they really have it undercontrolMr. Ingersoll. They certainly don't have the problem that we have,Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. Now, the figures that you gave, Mr. Ingersoll, I don'tknow whether I understood you correctly or not. Were those figures ofarrests in 1970—1,146—were they just arrests in Southeast Asia?Mv. Ingersoll. They were made in South Vietnam by militaryauthorities.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. And the first 3 months of this year it jumped to1,082?Mr. Ingersoll. Yes, sir.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. Now, the percentage figures that you used, of a thous<strong>and</strong>men in the armed services in that area, how many would yousay liaA^e been exposed to the use of an opiate ?Mr. Ingersoll. Theoretically, all of them have had the opportunityto use it.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. I mean those who did use it.Mr. Ingersoll. I don't laiow that I can give you an answer beyondthe data that I provided before, Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. Anything else wouldeither be a recitation of the surveys that the military have taken,which indicate that in some groups, in some units, the rate is 10 to 15percent who have reported the use of it.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. You mean one out of every 10 men in the armedservices have used an opiate ?Mr. Ingersoll. No, sir. That isn't what I mean at all. I mean if youtake the lower enlisted grades who were in two different units, one ina group coming home, one in a holding-type of unit, <strong>and</strong> if you projectwliat was reported from surveys in those organizations to the entiremilitary forces in the country, then you comd say that. But what Iam saying is that of the few hundred people, <strong>and</strong> I can't rememberhoM- many people answered these questionnaires, some 10 or 15 percentof that group said that they had used heroin at one time of another.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man, Based upon that kind of a finding, you can hardlyput much value on that ; can you ?Mr. Ingersoll. That is my point. That is why I do iiot attach asignificant value as applied to the military at large.Mr. S<strong>and</strong>man. Right. So the point I am making, sir, tliese astronomicallyhigh figures cannot be accurate. No one can make me believethat one out of every 10 soldiers has used lieroin, or anything like it.

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