History of Legal and Illegal Drugs from 1970-1975 A.D. Part 2

About the history of legal and illegal drugs from 1970 to 1975 A.D. including Turkey bans opium, figures on drug use, the war on drugs begins, prison and drug use.

1971 On June 30, 1971, President Cevdet Sunay of Turkey decrees that all poppy cultivation and opium production will be forbidden beginning in the fall of 1972.

1971 John N. Mitchell, Attorney General of the U.S., declares: "I refer to the fact, acknowledged now by all professionals in the field, that alcoholism as such is not a legal problem--it is a health problem. More especially, simple drunkenness per se should not be handled as an offense subject to the processes of justice. It should be handled as an illness, subject to medical treatment. . . . [We] know that it does little good to remove alcoholism from the purview of the law if you do not substitute a full-dress medical treatment--not only a detoxification process, but a thoroughgoing program aimed at recovery from the illness of alcoholism. Again, the program must include the closest cooperation and communication, starting at the top level, between the public health officials and law-enforcement officials. The police must have an understanding that their role continues--not in an arresting capacity, but in one of helping subjects in the designated health centers, voluntarily if possible, involuntarily if necessary."

1972 Myles J. Ambrose, Special Assistant Attorney General of the U.S.; "As of 1960, the Bureau of Narcotics estimated that we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 55,000 heroin addicts ... they estimate now the figure to be 560,000 addicts."

1972 The Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs proposes restricting the use of barbiturates on the ground that they "are more dangerous than heroin."

1972 The House votes 366 to o to authorize "a $1 billion, 3-year Federal attack on drug abuse."

1972 At the Bronx House of Correction, out of a total of 780 inmates, approximately 400 are given tranquilizers such as Valium, Elavil, Thorazine, and Librium, "'I think they [the inmates] would be doing better without some of the medication,' said Capt. Robert Brown, a correction officer. He said that in a way the medications made his job harder ... rather than becoming calm, he said, an inmate who had become addicted to his medication 'will do anything when he can't get it.'"

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