The Problem of Dope

In Washington this week Texas Senator Price Daniel reported on the findings of a seven-month scrutiny by a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee into narcotics addiction and illicit drug traffic in the U.S. It was the first nationwide investigation of the problem, and the Daniel subcommittee heard 345 witnesses, including many addicts and smugglers, for a total of 8,667 pages of testimony. The subcommittee dredged up some hideous and alarming facts. Items: P:The U.S. now has more drug addicts (60,000) than all other Western nations combined. In the past three years the Federal Bureau of Narcotics has compiled a list of names and addresses of 30,000 known addicts, and the list is growing at the rate of 1,000 a month. P:Illegal dope traffic has trebled since World War IL At the end of the war, there was one addict to every 10,000 persons in the U.S.; in 1955 there was one to every 3,000. Thirteen percent of all addicts in the country are under 21. P: Approximately 50% of all crime in U.S. cities, and 25% of all crime in the nation, is attributable to drug addiction.

Daniel and his colleagues proposed a detailed program of controls, which they are drafting into specific legislation. Among the recommendations: P:The smuggling and sale of heroin should be punishable by penalties ranging from five years in prison to death. Explaining his reasons for recommending such harsh punishment, Daniel said: "Heroin smugglers and peddlers are selling murder, robbery and rape, and should be dealt with accordingly. Their offense is human destruction as surely as that of the murderer. In truth and fact, it is 'murder on the installment plan.' " The death penalty, he added, should be imposed only in an extreme case, such as that of a peddler who made addicts out of 40 high-school students in San Antonio. P: At least 50 new agents should be added to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics staff.

The bureau now has only 227 agents--fewer than the narcotics-control staff of the New York City Police Department.

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