Evening star., 1947-03-17

program. Willingness to accept or con-
tinue on the program was not made a
condition of probation. On this purely
voluntary basis, for the year 1946, of about
2l5 offenders interviewed as likely pros
poets, 200 were placed on probation who
volunteered to accept the program. OF
this number, 122, or 81 per cent, were
successfully adhering to its principles at
the close of the year. Admittedly, this is
experimentation of the hit-or-miss va
riety, but the figures are indicative OF
what could be accomplished by proper
approach, coupled with application of
sound working principles. The figures
suggest the need for abandonment of
present concepts Of wrongdoing as as
sociated with the problem and accept
ance of the fact that the alcoholic Is q
sick person, susceptible to treatment
and responsive thereto and that alco-
holism is our greatest unsolved public
health problem.
Alcoholics Anonymous are not alone
in the field of rehabilitation Of the
alcoholic. That groups approach Is
personal-indoctrin of the indi-
vidual in the IL steps-and to this
extent their operations, though effective,
are limited. Working to the same ends,
and of more scientific and expanded
scope, are such organizations as the
Yale Foundation and its Committee for
Education on Alcoholism, located in
various States, one of which is organized
and functioning in the District OF CO.
lumbia the Commissions on Alcoholism,
set up by the States Of Maryland and
Connecticut; the National Committee
on Alcohol Hygiene, Inc, Baltimore, etc.
These committees and commissions have
done the spade work, and their VOL
luminous studies and recommendations
are being translated into law.
We Treat Him as Criminal.
The foregoing was written prior to
January 6, 1947, when Congressman
Hebert of Louisiana introduced his bill
ITO establish a program for rehabilita-
ton of alcoholics, promote temperance
and provide for the medical and scien-
tific treatment of persons found to be
alcoholics by the courts of the District
of Columbia, and for other purposes"
The quoted provision of the bill
declaratory of purpose goes to the heart
of the alcoholic problem. This bill
represents the first congressional at
tempt to deal with the problem objec-
lively.
1t is not my purpose to analyze or
criticize this bill. The bill is welcomed
in that 1t recognizes the alcoholic as
a sick person, and undertakes to deal
with him as such. Connecticut was a
leader in the field and its statute Gre
ating Board of Trustees Of the State
Fund for Inebriates, set up broad func-
tional administration. Seldom D. Bacon,
PHI. D., assistant professor of sociology,
Yale University, discusses some Of the
points of view, some of the difficulties,
and some of the compromises which
were involved in the formulation of the
1945 Connecticut law, in his article,
New Legislation for the Control of
Alcoholism: The Connecticut Law of
1945."
To meet the alcoholic situation the
public must realize first, there is a
problem, and if adjustment is to be
attempted, recognize the nature of the
problem. The lawyer could engage in
no more worthwhile work than under
taking to develop or discover an effective
means of solution. Agencies, such as
the local Committee for Education on
Alcoholism, are available to spread the
news Of accomplishments and demon
strate its value.