Archive Report
Archive Report
Alternatives in Control of Drug Addiction
Controversy over the effectiveness of methods currently employed to combat the long-standing evil of drug addiction has been stirred up by recent revision of federal narcotics legislation. The Narcotic Control Act of 1956, approved July 18, is designed to strengthen enforcement of existing laws against illicit traffic in drugs. It prescribes heavier penalties, including the death sentence, for narcotics offenders and includes provisions to facilitate arrest and conviction of peddlers and addicts. The so-called punitive approach to the drug addiction problem is thus carried to new lengths.
A number of physicians and lawyers opposed the legislation on the ground that the punitive approach has not succeeded in eradicating drug addiction. A better way to control and eventually wipe out the ...