Evening star., 1952-02-11
Drug Addiction
Is on Decline,
'AnsIinger' Says
But Military Comps
Still Are Problem,
He Tells House Group
By chorIes 6. Brooks

By chorles 6. Brooks
Narcotic addiction in the United
States is dropping but there still
remains an alarming problem
around the Nations military
camps, Harry j. Anslinger. Fed
eral commissioner Of narcotics,
told the House Committee on Ap-
preparations in testimony revealed
today.
Addiction in the District may be
rampant, Mr.. Anslinger declared,
but the State narcotics laws of
Maryland and Virginia have been
la definite force in driving dope
peddlers from Baltimore and parts
of Virginia to Washington.
Mr.. Anslinger pointed oAt that
narcotics raids in Baltimore made
in conjunction with a Nation
wide drive against Illicit dope
traffic resulted in absolutely no
cases in the city of Baltimore early
last month.
Except for a number Of peddlers
picked up around military camps
in Virginia, the State is clean of
the Illicit narcotics traffic in major
cities. Mr.. Anslinger continued.
Addiction Controlled.
OfIicialS here have admitted that
although addiction has been at
least partially contained, the re-
naming dope peddlers - which
number up to 80 known dealers
are a threat to the Capitals
youth as long as the police are
unable to touch them.
The No. reason many ped
dlers are difficult to prosecute
under the Federal and District
narcotics laws is the Supreme
Courts Interpretation of the con-
stitutionality Of search and seizure
laws here. Mr.. Anslinger said.
The District is unusual in re-
spect to search and seizure laws,
he continued, because a rigid Fed
eral concept Of individual rights
limits police powers of arrest,
while in the States the courts GUS.
tomarily accept arrests made with
out rigid adherence to search and
seizure laws.
Mr.. Anslinger pointed out that
most Of the Illicit narcotics comes
from foreign countries. 1--WE have
now three agents working in Eu-
rope on the large smugglers," he
continued. "The agent in Italy is
there to expose the large heroin
traffic, the heroin being diverted
from italian plants.
l. Red China is Source.
Red China is another source of
opiates, Mr.. Anslinger said. I'VE
are getting a lot of heroin out of
Communist China. It comes
through Hong Kong"
But when Mr.. Anslinger brought
this to the attention of the Rus
sian delegate to the United Ma
tions and asked him to commune
cate with the Chinese to see if
they could suppress the traffic.
the Russians only replied:
"They wanted one Of these Chi
neSe Communists to sit at the
table. I just told them," Mr..
Anslinger informed the commit
tee, "You can tell them just as
well as can.
''You are in communication
with them and we are not"
Speaking of narcotics arrests in
Virginia Mr.. Anslinger declared
that in the past year agents made
26 narcotics and 1S marijuana
arrests. Other than that. Vir-
ginia is "clean."- he stated. The
arrests made represent cases
around Army camps in Virginia. II
Speaking specifically of the Dis
trict, Mr.. Anslinger declared that
"it is far more important to isolate
the drug addict" than it is to iso-
late victims of small pox or other
contagious diseases.
80 ut Gallinger.
''Last year." he pointed out.
"Gallinger had about 80 cases (of|
drug addicts). DR.. Williams atI
Freedmen's Hospital is doing al
fine job in trying to cure young
addicts. think he had las cases.
and he has tried to keep UP with
them"
Mr.. Anslinger told the COM
mittee there is a great need in
the District of Columbia for
isolating the addicts without a
criminal record, putting them
where they will not be a menace
to the health of the community. u
Appealing for further funds
from Congress to carry on the
bureaus war against dope, Mr..
said that even the ma
tional defense effort has resulted
in increased workloads for the
Bureau of Narcotics. /