Nixon, Williams & Hruska on Drug Abuse Prevention and Congressional Relations

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I challenge us, wind up, as you know, at bipartisan meetings, generally, that the country is in the field of foreign policy.

That of course makes good sense, because foreign policy is by, it is determined by partisan.

And I think it's very interesting to consider that they are not all partisan parties, that they're generally on the lines of the great and the bold parties.

Now, the subject that you have today is not a foreign policy, but it is a domestic issue, and for several hours and months, it's a domestic issue of very, very great concern.

— 1 min 33 s with no transcribed speech —

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Recently, it has come to our attention, because of the situation in Vietnam, there, a group of young people who go to Vietnam, and the breakers who bring the stuff, have an opportunity to together, and I'm speaking now particularly from Paris, which is the one we're mainly concerned about, because of this, we're mainly concerned about Vietnam.

Prove yourself.

The problem would still be a greatly necessary national problem.

A national problem.

Particularly affecting our young people.

And also affecting young people.

Who, as I say, come from the so-called bad classes as well as those poor classes.

Now the good thing is we're doing several things.

We've been doing a lot of things.

We're simply setting it up.

And you're going to hear this morning a new program.

A new program.

It's processed in France and other places, but they go to Paris and stuff goes over to France and it's processed.

A increasing amount of it now comes from Asia, particularly from Southeast Asia.

And of course, if you dry up one source, other sources have to come along.

When you talk about marijuana, you're talking more about Mexico and other places, but we have to change.

What we are trying to do, and what we did was a meeting of six ambassadors from six countries, which either have a problem or have direct interest in it.

We called them in, and I told them,

Only this, that foreign policy of the United States, of course, is vitally important, but that foreign policy decisions and our interest in having good relations with another country must not take precedence over the high priority of what I consider to be the first priority of stopping the source of supply of the dangerous drugs coming into the United States.

Particularly where we have some responsibility for them directly, for example, when we do our courses.

There, we must find a way of treating them and dealing with them as effectively as we can.

And then finally, and here's where all of us comment, it's a question of education.

It really gets down to it.

It's become the thing in too many circles these days to say that marijuana is just like driving.

Butchers.

Approximately 45% of those at any given time in the District of Columbia jail had heroin.

He said that if he could get a number of those people off the streets in Detroit, the crime rate would decline.

17 months later, after this program has been in effect for that long, we have found that those that were treated had massively increased the number of those that went into Detroit.

The director of the new office will be accountable to the president for selecting priorities, managing, allocating budgets, and evaluating these five substantive roles.

Treatment, rehabilitation, education, training, and research.

The reason for this is that today this effort, federal effort, has been fragmented over nine federal agencies and departments.

The first year

I was chairing an ad hoc interagency coordinating committee on drug use treatment for rehabilitation education training programs.

I think it was the first time when we had a meeting that everybody had met each other and brought them into a room to see who was doing what in the federal government.

It became a practical impossibility to set a national strategy with that many people involved in it.

So this proposal would bring money to the director of this new office.

These functional activities, which, as far as operations are concerned, will remain with the operational line agencies, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Veterans Administration.

They will continue to operate those programs, but they will be responsible to the director and his national policy and

The way that this office will function, to maximize the resources of the government, we will work through these agencies according to formal working agreements.

Last year, we tried out this technique in the Sky Marshall program, which is located in the Department of Transportation.

They're the director of the Sky Marshall program.

Establish formal working agreements with the FBI, the Bureau of Customs, the Federal Police Administration, those agencies which have responsibility for certain parts of the overall program.

In the last year, we have found a notable reduction in the incidence of skyjacking, and feel that that model is an effective one that could well be applied for the drug abuse treatment program.

But there has not been built in to any ongoing program's ability to say what works and what does not work.

We'd like to bring together in this office an evaluation capability, an ability to go out and find out around the country what is working and what is not working, to experiment where necessary, and to build a statistical database so that we can...

research and program development inside this office.

We envision an office of approximately 100 to 150 individuals.

We will not be responsible for operating them functionally in the departments, but for setting the strategy, setting the policy and the priorities under which federal agencies or other private organizations, corporations, state governments can also work through.

includes expanded funds for drug and drug abuse prevention programs.

This word here is somewhat narrow.

This also includes law enforcement as well as education, treatment, research and rehabilitation.

This shows the incremental increases that have taken place over the last four years in this area, beginning in 1969 with 67.9 million, and having increased to a total of 201.7, which was the proposed budget of this year.

About 155.5, this 369.9 is approximately 371 million.

This is a new money package that includes all nine agencies.

Yes, sir, this includes all those that are involved now, plus one of us, 11.2.

We felt that we're approaching this systematically as a national problem that affects not just the Veterans Administration, because they also impact on DPW programs in the National Institute of Mental Health.

The Office of Economic Opportunity has expressed their funding.

We'd like to be able to present an entire strategy to show where the money should be appropriated, and that will be laid out.

But in terms of the procedures, the way that will be presented, we're going to be seeking guidance as to the appropriate ways to submit the request.

Yes, sir.

Internal Revenue Service has sent him.

It's a general idea of the way new appropriations will be spent.

Educating and training is one area which needs to be greatly expanded, and the request calls for an additional $10 million for educational programs.

Last year, an additional $3.5 million was spent on this area, which was used to train...

who would like to be able to expand that capability.

Community funding projects.

This proposal is based upon a thought that we would like to enable local communities, metropolitan areas, to plan for the proper spending of money.

And me and Arizona, they have a program called Kodak, which is an exceptionally good program for community organizations for drug abuse control.

As an umbrella agency, which determines where their problems are on a regional level, and how they can best spend money through the local government and through private organizations.

It's a very good metropolitan, globalized effort to be able to replicate that kind of regional

This will be researched into narcotic antagonists.

There's been a lot of discussion into the development of a vaccine, for example, that may work to block heroines.

with the use of the vaccine.

They have not been developed yet that we know of, but we would like to greatly expand the research efforts to find that solution if it can be found.

but would like to be able to provide flexibility to these programs around the country.

If a person wants to become abstinent and drug-free, he can.

If he needs psychotherapy, he can get it.

Job counseling, he can get it.

Legal services can be available.

If he needs to be sustained on methadone while he is getting these heavy services, that can be made available as well.

According to the laws of that country, it would help us to prosecute cases within this country.

This is primarily between Mexico and the United States.

In addition, and this is a small point, but the whole studio criminal justice process reports and analysis will also be used in cases not having to have a chemist present themselves.

Requesting from Congress money specifically for 140 new positions in the Bureau of Narcotics

...of the legitimate drug business in the United States.

The evidence which we have so far suggests that a great deal more drugs, that means barbiturates, are manufactured and are properly prescribed by physicians.

Some of that product goes into illicit tax.

Some of it goes abroad and is smuggled back into the United States.

We felt that an intensifying effort in that area

We're trying to stop other countries from bringing heroin into this country.

We have a job to police our own activities here, so we are not exporting dangerous drugs abroad.

And finally, the 18.1 billion for customs would be spent for 1,000 additional positions and equipment for the Bureau of Customs.

As you are all aware, we conducted Operation Intercept, which became Operation Cooperation in 1969.

Part of the problem was

It was necessary to expand their ability to both control that border area with aircraft, also more manpower and force of entry on the west coast to be able to carry through that 100% inspection without delay.

It's been quite a bit of delay that has just happened, probably not.

Have you been able to tell us how many positions you have abandoned?

You're asking for 1,140 humans.

How many were you abandoning?

The third part shows the drug addiction in the military.

The problems we saw was the development systems for the identification and treatment of the military personnel throughout the world who used drugs, primarily heroin.

The response has been the President has directed the Secretary of Defense to begin immediately identification of drug-addicted servicemen.

who are abusing drugs, some of them, most of them heroin.

The additional diagnostic process will fall for determining those who have heroin in their system.

When a person comes out negative that he has not been abusing heroin, he is returned to the United States civilian life.

If, on the other hand, we have a positive confirmation that he has been using heroin, he has become an addict, we will move him into seven days of detoxing.

and we feel that a person who has been confirmed as an addict is entitled to at least three weeks of mandatory additional treatment.

This treatment could be a number of things.

Counseling, psychotherapy, and job counseling.

The whole gang of services which are available in treatment programs today.

We will be asking for legislation to authorize us

for up to 30 days those individuals who have been detected as an addict for this treatment.

The facilities affected for this treatment would include those in front of the Department of Defense, and they will be establishing greater capacity within the Department of Defense itself in the veterans in that training, which is going to be expanding their programs dramatically very soon, or in civilian programs,

He's been rehabilitated and has signed his discharge.

He's returned to U.S. civilian life.

If he has additional duty, and I think the figure that we have now is about 50% of those that returned from Vietnam are discharged, or expected to be discharged upon arrival in the United States.

The other 50% who have been detected as heroin addicts will be returned to duty, and they will have additional treatment available to them while they are still in the service.

As I say, facilities available, Veterans Administration facilities for the most part, civilian treatment programs, and programs in the Department of Treatment.

This is more of a structure on which we're going to build, and precisely where they will be located for how long has yet to be worked out.

This program, he has been operating the Illinois Narcotic Matic Rehabilitation Program, and maybe you can speak to us about it.

I think this will be one of the most important problems.

There is just three limitations for you to not use.

They were using it as a soldier

I don't want to labor the question to take the time, but I just raised the question to show you what the problem is.

It's not all black and white, it's not as easy as the police thought it was.

It's a very difficult problem to face.

You have the individual who is taking the bomb on draft, and it should be determined before he goes in to your computer analysis test as one.

We have no evidence that this is going on in a large area, but we want to get out.

Okay, heading back to the congressman's questions.

Oh, it's really a terrible problem.

In other words, this is what we're doing.

Now, the point is, we're going to move you from that, as I understand it.

This program is designed to move away from that.

Stay on that one here.

On this person.

Or if he is detected through the urinalysis and brought into the program that way, it's the same thing as if he's involved here.

In other words, if they get out of the urinalysis,

There are several kinds of technology.

It would not be considered service-connected in terms of disability payments to him, if that's what your question is.

Well, that's the question.

Will he claim disability?

Now, if he wouldn't claim disability, we would provide treatment for the drug addiction.

He wouldn't be disqualified from treatment for drug addiction.

He couldn't claim 10% to 20% disability by reaching this comparison.

Are you saying that he gets treatment?

This is a key question, of course.

No, I'm saying...

Yes, sir.

I just made a word about a president.

You have to watch your attitude and talk.

We call that a cure.

It's a two-year cure.

Maybe a five-year cure.

We have to look for it.

Other people went in the hospital, came out, took no medication, still working.

There's still others who started some drugs like antacids, cyclazine, which we can get into.

They did well.

Others went into therapeutic communities and are on set.

So this visible picture of people relapsing within six months is not necessarily the case when treatment is moved to the community so we can provide ongoing

More realistic expectations.

People will have problems.

But the fact that somebody relapses for two weeks or a month, it's not so tragic if within a few weeks he gets back into treatment.

We can patch him up again.

After many times you've made that difference, too, it's like so many other functions.

People always start to like you.

But it's really changing his life.

He goes back to the same environment.

We've seen people, for example, among the men, approximately 25-30% in most programs, come in holding legitimate bank jobs.

Mr. President, when a draftee or a volunteer goes to the medical examination center...

We haven't determined that yet, sir, so he'll be given an appropriate test at that point.

Right now, we examine the man for needle arms.

I don't think we'll get this to a conclusion.

What you're doing here, as I understand it, is you're giving the test first.

You're finding out whether or not he is addicted.

You're giving him these seven days plus three weeks.

Now when you reach that point, you've got to carry it forward.

If not, then he returns to duty, and I think he will be served by those in the military to reduce him.

If not, then the man who is separated can take two choices.

He can either go to the veterans' hospital, he can go in that direction, or he can go to civilian treatment, which is the doctor knows in the state of Illinois, in the mental health center, community mental health centers, which we have in each one of our major districts like in Chaffee.

We will treat people, regardless of their cause of discharge, without necessarily calling it service-connected.

And I don't know if treating means to be black or white.

If we treat it, therefore it must be service-connected.

We can be more flexible and say we will treat it, without necessarily calling it service-connected.

You're going to have to go through the VA or someone and give them money, the contract, for the cost.

Because you're going to have to pay for that.

So you're going to have to add possibly the better, or it will be the best people to make.

I don't think you'll have any further problems if you discharge the civilian life.

For two months later, for whatever reason, you bump into somebody who's a heavy user, and it relapses.

That civilian life box can be connected with an arrow back into civilian treatment, and it's our goal to build treatment and make it so available that nobody will ever have to say that I got into a criminal lifestyle because treatment wasn't available.

In other words, even if you discharge the civilian life, you will have direct immediate priority

The idea is...

All that goes with that, in order to stop serving, I'm not sure there's much to say about that, any more than if you want to eat your despise permanently, to avoid service.

As part of the education process, would you spend a moment of this position?

from wherever they're serving.

To avoid rushes.

For a long period.

So there's no reason to go through this.

We want to convert people experimenting into people.

If they must experiment.

to determine whether something has already become physically dependent.

So we can further refine this diagnostic process with available technology to begin to make decisions on that.

ultimately convincing them of the honesty of our...

It goes up and down, is it?

Approximately.

I suppose we can.

Unpredictable.

But are we worse off than any other country, percentage-wise, or what?

In terms of parity, I believe that we may be worse off than most other countries.

It's interesting to note, for example, that as far as heroin is concerned, that the producers, the people that grow poppies, they don't use it.

The poppy stations have not used it.

They've only used drugs.

Not so recently, I think.

And then young people would be at non-tensile morphine, I mean, heroin.

And they're very different from us.

They can't eat well, or they've been taking heroin for 10 years.

So drugs are an energy treat.

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There's too many antagonists.

Planing and evaluation is part of that.

Because we want to plan what's supposed to happen.

...under the president, reporting to the president...

I think this is probably a good thing to do.

I don't know if some of you know about the experience in Japan.

They're really rough on them.

The Japanese, the vigorous, vital, strong people, have no tolerance for this.

And I would say that in the Okinawa thing, besides the state government, I could imagine that those eight or nine illicit operations in Okinawa, that those people are going to be strung up.

Probably within the next week or so.

But that isn't the way we operate.

But the jet zone, so they operate effectively there.

Another thing I should point out, looking at the, in some of the proletariat societies, we can totally disagree with her.

But they have a very tough policy on Russia.

Very Russian-style.

They had it because they know what it could do to their very character.

Here we're a free society.

We don't want to go that way.

We don't want to pay that kind of price.

But the real...

That is so important to you.

I think.

We had a briefing at the base of RIT, and all these people have called, you know, to pick up 100 people.

Yes, sir.

Well, the bill is being transmitted with the message today, and we've been hoping for immediate action.

Mr. President, I'm very pleased.

All right.

I'm actually still...

We will plan to use this facility.

The difficulty with Fort Worth is that it's just foreclosed.

We see people in treatment and one of them is transferred to another unit.

And they never show up.

Fort Worth is not located between a high endemic area.

It's a huge facility.

And there's no way of getting somebody started in treatment and having them continue treatment with the same people.

I mean, it makes sense.

You know, it is a facility.

But it's a high facility.

You know, these trans-facilities live directly in communities where somebody who gives this treatment...

With our own recall, and as soon follows that legislation, we'll recall that Senator Dodd had in his bill also some of the features that we are talking about here, the treatment, the education, and so on.

It's still a problem, so you're gonna have to go to the

I hesitate, let me say, I hesitate to put another offer in the White House.

But I, just as in the cancer program, I thought it was necessary to take personal charge and responsibility in one area.

In this program, it is necessary to put it in one area.

that there are people in this Congress and the House and the Senate that have lived with these problems for many years.

And you have had a plan in your recent...

This is what I'll make as the president.

We've got that decision before he also is committed, and I'll fight right now to be the head.

Well, if this is the judgment, then something has to be waked up for the others.

I feel threatened that I'll continue to present any attempt to take jurisdiction over the military, while the Department of Defense is not included in the list of authorities being held as repressors.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Nixon, Williams & Hruska on Drug Abuse Prevention and Congressional Relations

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Also recorded on June 17, 1971

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Nixon, Williams & Hruska on Drug Abuse Prevention and Congressional Relations

AI Summary

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on June 17, 1971

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