Basic HTML Version
February 1972
The
PLAIN TRUTH
Counterfeit Cures for Beroin Addicts
T
HI:: FOLLOWING METHODS
are
the most commonly used gov–
ernmental policies for dealing with
drug addiction. None of them have
worked in any appreciable degree.
The reason for such failure is that
each of them is a
cotmterfeit
cure,
treating only the shallow effects in–
stead of the basic causes. Here they
are, in general order of prevalence
- and failure:
l.
Criminal lncarceration
Criminal incarceration is the pre–
dominant American method. The
laws of the United States treat drug
possession, use, or sale as a felony.
Heroin add icts are incarcerated as
criminals, and forced to endure with–
drawal in jail or in special "rehabili–
tation" clinics.
One tragedy of the American sys–
tem is that criminalized addicts in
America
aren'! cttred.
The reversion
rate from Federal and State institu–
tions is perennially
over 90%1
Many
incarcerated addicts talk of little else
than that "first fix" when they get
out. With few exceptions, there is
very little medica! or mental therapy
for what is primarily a mental health
problem.
Another drawback of the Ameri–
can system
is
that more
crime
is
catJJed
than prevented. Since use of
heroin is illegal (which it
ottght
to
be) , the distribution of the drug is
taken over by organized crime. This
drives street prices for impure heroin
to over $100 per addict per day in
many cases. This directly leads to
petty larceny on a grand scale to
support the "needle" (an unhealthy
needle, at that, since there is, of
course, no medica! supervision) .
Those are the major weaknesses of
the "criminal approach." To remedy
those failures, the British system has
swung to the opposite extreme:
11. Free Legalized Heroin
Legalized and supervised heroin
distribution is called the "British
System." In many ways, Great Britain
has "controlled" her heroin problem
better than the United States, but
that is because they have not at–
tempted to
eme
it. Licensed doctors
in Britain distribute regular dosages
of heroin to those "registered" ad-
dicts who request help. The great
advantage, of coursé, is the virtual
absence of street crime to support a
drug habit.
The "British System" could be
compared to giving an akoholic a
fifth of the finest 12-year-old
Scotch wbiskey each day; unlimited
fried food to a fat man, or a wheel–
chair-for-life to a man with a
sprained ankle. It renders them
harmless, to be sure, but it also con–
firms their addiction for life.
The number of registered addicts
in Great Britain has quadrupled in
the past decade, growing recently at
16 percent per year. Few addicts are
cured - rather they are
lttred
-
by
free heroin.
111. Methadone- The
Substitute Addíction
Methadone treatment has been
"There is no cure [for
heroin addiction] - there's
only
survival
in a compati–
ble lifestyle. You almost
have to have a lobotomy
to repair what years of self–
destructive habits have
done to guys like me, "
said Bob, Synanon res–
ident.
adopted by many cünics, especially in
the U.S.A. Methadone, like heroin,
is another dangerous member of the
opiate
family, but it can be legally
disbursed by doctors, much as heroin
is licensed in Britain. It is not a
euphoriant (pleasure-inducing drug),
it prevents heroin-induced euphoria,
and it is not progressive in its
dosage, as heroin is. One constant
dose imbibed with orange juice each
24 to 48 hours- prevents the painful
withdrawal symptoms from heroin.
One major medica! drawback,
however, is that methadone is
harde,–
to kick than heroin! Other dangers
are coming to light as methadone
usage increases.
The methadone therapy is dearly a
crttJch
in every way. Neither the ad–
dict's deep loneliness, his desire to
escape, nor his psychological need
for drugs is removed. These
causes
must be cured first, or the addict is
still an addict that is merely switch–
iug from ooe dangerous opiate to
another.
IV. Stopping the Supply
Two years ago in "Operation Inter–
cept," the U. S. attempted to stop the
fiow of drugs from Mexico into
California. Since then, numerous
other crackdowns have been imple–
mented in a vain, but noble cat-aod–
mouse game with the international
drug smugglers.
Recently,
U.
S. President Nixon
persuaded Turkey (the source of
most of the opium used for illegal
heroin traffic) to ban the cultivation
of the deadly plaot by rnid-1972, in
return for cash allotments.
Governments also want to crack
down on illegal dope smuggling at
potts of entry, among pushers on tbe
street, and withio organized crime's
distribution and processing patterns
for heroin. This is good and
neces–
sary.
But many fail to realize that
organized crime has more manpower,
money, musde, and legal tcickery at
its disposal than all narcotics agents,
customs officials, or congressmen
combined. The street drug scene will
remain a petty hassle between legally
handcuffed, overworked, underpaid
"nares" versus the rich, court–
coddled pushers.
Besides, the inexorable law of sup–
ply
and demand
is at work in drug
traffic. A partial stoppage of heroin
supply merely pushes the
price
of
street heroin upward. More goods
must be stolen to meet the habit,
be–
cause a "dope fiend" is just that - a
madman out of his mind for a
"fix."
He will stop short of nothing to get
whatever price the pusher asks.
It, then, is merely a matter of sup–
ply and demand. A great demand
means someone will be willing to
supply. This is a bizarre textbook
example of "demand-pull inflation."
The demand brings .out the supply.
The addict is already paying a
10,000% markup between Turkey
and Central Park, so another doubl–
ing of the price will not deter him.
Should government abandoo its
fight against heroin traffic? By no
meaos! Criminals should be stopped.
But it is
not mough to attack only
the mpply.
The
demand
for heroin
must be conquered also.
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