Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...
Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ... Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...
494only about 500 or 600 ])eople on it, suggests that it has low acceptance.At least, it is not something that people will come to.Mr. Brasco. So, \\'hat you are basically talking about, is not somuch the bad side effects but theie is not enough work done on it?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Well, there are bad side effects.Mr. Brasco. There are bad side effects.Dr. ViLLARREAL. The bad side effects can be dealt with effectivelyb}' slow increases in dose. Dr. Resnick is more competent to answerthis question with regard to humans.Mr. Brasco. All right. We will ask that of Dr. Resnick.Thank you.Dr. ViLLARREAL. 1 woulil like to say one last thing. The fact thatwe have the animal models of human dependence has opened up thepossibilit}" for the j'esearch on other drugs that will block self-administrationof narcotics, not just the narcotic antagonists.Mr. Perito. Are such tlrugs within our (•aj)abiHty of developnx'ut?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Well, this is more remote. The antagonists—wealready have quite a few, as you know. It is just a question of development.There is no more research that has to be done. The question isto have effective delivery methods of keeping up concentrations in theblood and tissues for long periods of time.Ml". Perito. You mean you know the basic concept of an antagonist.What you need to Jo is develo]) one that has a longer diu-ationof action. Is that what yen are saying?Dr. ViLLARREAL. That is right. We have a whole lot of very potentdrugs on the shelf.Mr. Perito. What is the reason we have not developed this?Dr. ViLLARREAL. There have been ver}^ few people who havethought about it. Leadership has been missing. Dr. Martin had beenbehind it. A group of doctors, mainly Freedman and Fink, have beenpushing it but there have been very few isolated instances of humanresearch.Chairman Pepper. Doctor, have the efforts to develop some of thesedifferent drugs, blockage drugs and immunizing drugs, have thoseeff'orts been impeded b}' lack of funds?Dr. ViLLARREAL. They have not been encouraged.Chairman Pepper. Well, now, you are at a university. You evidentlyare a verv great leader in this field. Have you had adequatefinancing foi the programs upon which you are working?Dr. ViLLARREAL. We do not have specific financing for the developmentof antidependence drugs. Our research is funded on the basis ofthe work we do for developing analgesics. We have done the antidependenceresearch on the side.Chairman Pepper. Do you think if the Federal Government,through an appropriate agency, after a proper screening process,made funds available for the development of leads that scientistshave uncovered, that we could make a great (h>al of progress towardfinding the necessary drugs to treat these addictions?Dr. ViLLARREAL. I would ihiuk that would be indispensable to makeserious progress along these lines, eillicr formalizing and organizingthe isolated efforts of different indivicknds or by making contracts tospecific drug firms to th'veloj) compouutls along the lines we havediscussed.
495Chairman Pepper. One other question. Is there a reservoir of talentin the coUeges and universities of the coiuitry that coukl be devoted tosuch objectives as these if tliey were adequately financed andencouraged?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Yes; there would have to be a great deal of leadershipand organization centrally to see what people could do and perhapsa committee of the peoi)le that have already done work in thisfield could organize something along the lines you suggest.Chairman Pepper. Now, would it be desirable, Doctor, if you had aFederal agency that could not only make funds available and assist inscreening in collaboration with the scientific community the proposalsthat were made but could coordinate as among Federal, State, andother agencies, the drug industry, and the colleges and universities ofthe country, a massive research program toward these objectives?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Ycs, it would be very highly desu'able. There isjust one factor universities do not have. They do not have the knowhowand the wide experience that industry has in certain stages ofdevelopment. The studies of toxicology, the j)harmaceutical formulations,the red tape to get the clinical trials, and so on.Chamnan Pepper. I have also been told—I would like to ask youif you think there is any truth in this— that one reason the universitiesare reluctant to get into these areas is because these men are valuablemen and there are many demands upon their time and at the sametime, they have to think about continuity of their own employment.So, if they are pulled off of a program that seems to have permanenceand put on a program which is only temporary in character, which mayterminate at an early date, it is more difficult to get these good men togive continuity to such programs; is it not?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Well, that is right, but that is a generalized problemfor all research. I would note, though, that there are some precedentsin the antimalarial drug research programs that were carriedout in universities during the war and also the anticancer program ofthe National Institutes of Health.Chairman Pepper. Do you have any questions, Mr. Blommer?Mr. Blommer. One question, Doctor. I have talked to a man whowas a drug addict and was sent to Dannemora Prison for 6 yearswithout any drugs. When he got out of prison he got on the train goingback to New York City. He got 30 miles from New York City andstarted going into withdrawal symptoms and he was vomiting.Now, at the point that that man physically had withdrawal symptoms,would you say he was suffering from a mental problem or aphysical problem, or both?Dr. ViLLARREAL. WcU, both. That is, the impulse to take the drugis a physical thing as well as a psychological thing, if you want. Thatis, the main point is that the drug users do not reason, well, I amgoing to have a drug, and go through a syllogism and a formal reasoning.It is something that occurs to them. They find themselves lookingfor the drug. It is like the alcoholic who drinks or is looking in hispocket for the money. He finds he is an alcoholic when he is spending$15 a week on whisky, but not before.These are not rational decisions made. These are things thathappen. The addict finds that you have this impulse to take the drug.
- Page 463 and 464: 443Chairmiui Pepper. Wliat is tlie
- Page 465 and 466: 446The state of the art is promisin
- Page 467 and 468: 447Lot nie ask you first, is tlic d
- Page 469 and 470: 449Chairman Pepper. Do you happen t
- Page 471 and 472: 451want you to take a look at. We w
- Page 473 and 474: 453In addition to that, there seems
- Page 475 and 476: 455the Mfldict is having a program
- Page 477 and 478: 457—on drugs? By that I mean, vei
- Page 479 and 480: 459\\ e are basically saying, in or
- Page 481 and 482: —;461that this is the extent to w
- Page 483 and 484: 463We could go into the drug area a
- Page 485 and 486: .465program that was i)ut into Jack
- Page 487 and 488: 467Mr. Brasco. Possibly. However, w
- Page 489 and 490: 469him, arrange to get somebody els
- Page 491 and 492: 471ainpheta.mines, or barbiturates.
- Page 493 and 494: 473In the meantime, the Institute d
- Page 495 and 496: 475treated in the community centers
- Page 497 and 498: 477research on narcotics in the sam
- Page 499 and 500: 479c 53 03E
- Page 501 and 502: NARCOTICS RESEARCH, REHABILITATION,
- Page 503 and 504: 483spending for research through NI
- Page 505 and 506: 485There has been no concerted seri
- Page 507 and 508: 487it is left in one of their veins
- Page 509 and 510: 489I do not think I should explain
- Page 511 and 512: 491Dr. ViLLARREAL. Until the reflex
- Page 513: 493evidence strongly shows is that
- Page 517 and 518: 497Dr. ViLLARREAL. So, it is a biol
- Page 519 and 520: '.499could result in a laboratory s
- Page 521 and 522: 5qifinds it in normal exploration.
- Page 523 and 524: 503synthesized a large number of na
- Page 525 and 526: 505STATEMENT OE DR. ALBERT KURLAND,
- Page 527 and 528: 507discovered if we iiad taken the
- Page 529 and 530: 509Mr. Perito. Dr. Kurland, do you
- Page 531 and 532: 511Chairman Pepper. Has the Food an
- Page 533 and 534: 513]Mr. Steiger. Do you feel from y
- Page 535 and 536: 515In this second study there was a
- Page 537 and 538: 517were any significant differences
- Page 539: 519The Deceptive Communication and
- Page 542 and 543: .522than a State psychiatric hospit
- Page 544 and 545: 524Department of Mental Hygiene), R
- Page 546 and 547: TABLE 3—COMPARISON OF THE 1ST POS
- Page 548 and 549: 528TABLE 10—RELATIONSHIP OF AGE T
- Page 550 and 551: 530tution and his involvement in th
- Page 552 and 553: Attachment No. 5;r\ N-CH,-CH=CHo ,
- Page 554 and 555: '-534Chart No. U (case No. 672)Disp
- Page 556 and 557: 536Chart No. 4 (case No. 694)Illust
- Page 558 and 559: 538Chart No. 35 {case No. 697)Excep
- Page 560 and 561: 540This amount of heroin is roughly
- Page 562 and 563: 5msuccessful or not in that short a
495Chairman Pepper. One other question. Is there a reservoir of talentin the coUeges <strong>and</strong> universities of the coiuitry that coukl be devoted tosuch objectives as these if tliey were adequately financed <strong>and</strong>encouraged?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Yes; there would have to be a great deal of leadership<strong>and</strong> organization centrally to see what people could do <strong>and</strong> perhapsa committee of the peoi)le that have already done work in thisfield could organize something along the lines you suggest.Chairman Pepper. Now, would it be desirable, Doctor, if you had aFederal agency that could not only make funds available <strong>and</strong> assist inscreening in collaboration with the scientific community the proposalsthat were made but could coordinate as among Federal, State, <strong>and</strong>other agencies, the drug industry, <strong>and</strong> the colleges <strong>and</strong> universities ofthe country, a massive <strong>research</strong> program toward these objectives?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Ycs, it would be very highly desu'able. There isjust one factor universities do not have. They do not have the knowhow<strong>and</strong> the wide experience that industry has in certain stages ofdevelopment. The studies of toxicology, the j)harmaceutical formulations,the red tape to get the clinical trials, <strong>and</strong> so on.Chamnan Pepper. I have also been told—I would like to ask youif you think there is any truth in this— that one reason the universitiesare reluctant to get into these areas is because these men are valuablemen <strong>and</strong> there are many dem<strong>and</strong>s upon their time <strong>and</strong> at the sametime, they have to think about continuity of their own employment.So, if they are pulled off of a program that seems to have permanence<strong>and</strong> put on a program which is only temporary in character, which mayterminate at an early date, it is more difficult to get these good men togive continuity to such programs; is it not?Dr. ViLLARREAL. Well, that is right, but that is a generalized problemfor all <strong>research</strong>. I would note, though, that there are some precedentsin the antimalarial drug <strong>research</strong> programs that were carriedout in universities during the war <strong>and</strong> also the anticancer program ofthe National Institutes of Health.Chairman Pepper. Do you have any questions, Mr. Blommer?Mr. Blommer. One question, Doctor. I have talked to a man whowas a drug addict <strong>and</strong> was sent to Dannemora Prison for 6 yearswithout any drugs. When he got out of prison he got on the train goingback to New York City. He got 30 miles from New York City <strong>and</strong>started going into withdrawal symptoms <strong>and</strong> he was vomiting.Now, at the point that that man physically had withdrawal symptoms,would you say he was suffering from a mental problem or aphysical problem, or both?Dr. ViLLARREAL. WcU, both. That is, the impulse to take the drugis a physical thing as well as a psychological thing, if you want. Thatis, the main point is that the drug users do not reason, well, I amgoing to have a drug, <strong>and</strong> go through a syllogism <strong>and</strong> a formal reasoning.It is something that occurs to them. They find themselves lookingfor the drug. It is like the alcoholic who drinks or is looking in hispocket for the money. He finds he is an alcoholic when he is spending$15 a week on whisky, but not before.These are not rational decisions made. These are things thathappen. The addict finds that you have this impulse to take the drug.
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