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

—456There are, however—as dramatic and important as that sounds,because we are talking about a bilhon dollars, we are not talking abouta small amount of even crime reduction if you want to take thatother issues which are sincerely and deeply held, and not by peoplewho do not want crime to reduce. For example, in the process (if thistreatment being given, how many people are create;! to be methadoneaddits who were not addicts at all? This is a terribly sensitive andimportant issue.yir. Brasco. I know, but I suspect, Doctor, that is a strawman.It would seem to me that anytime you are dealing with drugs of anysort, you are talking about risks. I remember when sulfa came out, ayounger brother of mine was almost killed by a doctor who w^ascontinuall}^ giving him sulfa for some kidney ailment when he shouldnot have been having sulfa, apparentlv.So, I do not know why we just cannot develop a procedure to findout very simj)!}^ before a man enters the program that he is an addictso we do not get somebody just waltzing in there to become an addictand I think it is a strawman because the people are out on the streetsgetting the drugs with the greatest of ease and more and more addictsare involved. What we would really be doing is talking about asignificant reduction in crime and what we are really doing is talkingabout an opportunity- for people to lead somewhat of a normal life.I think that we ought to be able to give the American public theopportunity for this solution because I think that these are tolerablerisks and I am wondering whether or not you think, in dealing withmethadone, from reading all of the reports and making the studies,that this is an area where we have approached tolerable rislvs, assumingthe great proportion of the drug problem that we have today.Dr. Brown. I would sa_v that what I would like to see done alongthe lines is being done in part here in the District. I,would like to seein the District, for exam.ple, a major massive pilot experiment whereas large a proportion of the heroin addicts as is feasible or could beattracted to it, encouraged to use it under safeguards, and then to havea careful evaluation study. Dr. Dupont's program is approachingthat here, and my figures are not exact, but plans are: to move from2,000 patients to '4,000 or 5,000 at the end of the next year and fundsare being made available to him from NIMH and LEAA and