Abstract
Under date of January 14, 1955, there was presented to the Senate of the United States by Senator Frederick G. Payne, Republican, of Maine, a joint resolution "to provide for a more effective control of narcotic drugs, and for other purposes." Co-sponsoring the Resolution with Senator Payne were forty-two other Senators from all areas of the Nation and from all political parties, including Independent Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon. The Interdepartmental Committee consisting of representatives from the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the Department of Justice requested the Committee on Public Health of The New York Academy of Medicine to study this bill and submit a report. By the time the Subcommittee on Drug Addiction of the Committee on Public Health had an opportunity to convene it was informed that the narcotics bill had not come out of committee. However, representatives of the Interdepartmental Committee requested that the Committee on Public Health consider the narcotics problem and propose measures for suitable legislation. Today a number of cities are raising a hue and cry of apprehension and alarm over drug addiction. Charges and claims about it appear in the headlines, coupled with demands for action of the usual kind: crackdown by the enforcement officials. Presently it is linked with the larger problem of juvenile delinquency as one of its most serious components. Before attempting to appraise the existing situation, it is helpful to look at the legal provisions and administrative bodies designed to control narcotic traffic and addiction.