Evening star., 1953-02-06

lHIU HUSPlIdI FIdtSeu
by Subcommittee
By Miriam Gutenberg
Members of the House District
sub-c committee stuyding q bill to
compel disqualification Of dope
Iaddicts today predicted sub
committees approval Of the bill
las soon as legal difficulties are
|ironed out.
A poll Of the seven members
OF the Health Education and
Recreation subcommittee showed
all Of them favor compulsory
treatment of the addictS but they
want to strengthen the bill be-
fore it reaches the House floor.
Subcommittee Chairman Mil
Ter said the public hearing on
the DILL yesterday brought out
some things we may have to
clear UP from the lawyers stand
point"
"We'll get the lawyers to-
gether and work out some Ian
guage we can defend on the
floor Of the House" said the bills
author. That won't be too hard
to do.
Anything that will strengthen
the bill will be fine. The prin-
ciple has been agreed on. It
must be remembered we're
ploughing new ground"
|. Cure Costs $50.
Estimating it would cost 1910
a person to cure addicts at the
United States Public Health
Service Hospital at Lexington,
KY, DR.. Miller said that cost to
the community would be less
than allowing the addicts to re-
main at large so that they are
ultimately driven to steal to
maintain their dope habit.
He said the subcommittee will
take another look" at the
bill on February Is or II at
second public hearing.
Representative Hagen, Re-
publican, of Minnesota, said the
addict bill is a good one which
should be passed as soon as pos
sible with some minor changes.
"It's a good idea to get rid of
the customers of the dope ped
dlers," he said. I'm confident
the subcommittee will approve
it,"
Legal Ironing Out.
Representative Gubser, Re-
publican, of California, said the
purpose of the bill was "splen-
did," but some legal technicali-
ties must be resolved. He was
particularly concerned about the
possibility that dope addicts
would skip town" between the
time they are notified to appear
in court and the time Of their
hearing.
"But there are enough brains
and enough interest in this to
work something out" he added.
I'm very much in sympathy
with the objectives of the bill"
Representative Davis, Demo-
crat, of Georgia also commended
the objectives of the bill and
predicted that when it was per-
fected it would I'LL q great need.
He said he wanted to be sure
the bill provided legal justiflca-
tion for taking suspected addicts
into custody.
Prom what I've heard and
observed" he reported, 'the
sentiment is generally in favor
of it,"
Representative Smith, Demo-
crat, Of Virginia said the goal
of the bill is fine" but 1t needs
careful study to make certain
the addict's constitutional rights
are protected.
II think we'll iron out some
thing that will stand the test"
he added. There's no dispo-
sition to oppose the bill. We
just what to be sure we're right"
Representative Hyde, Repub-
lican, Of Maryland, said he is
very much in favor of the pur-
pose Of the bill and thinks it |
has a good chance of passage. |
He proposed several changes in
the bills language to make clear
its purpose and procedures.
II think it would probably |
stand up as 1t is constitution
ally" he said, "but we must be |
able to answer all questions |
thrown at us on the House
floor"
Representative Abernethy,
Democrat, Of Mississippi, said he |
was in accord with the principle |
of the bill but he wants to make |
sure that the addicts can be
held in custody so they won't |
leave town before their cases are
decided.
When an addict gets q notice
to appear In court" he COM
mented, "he can just step across
the State line. If the bill gives
the court the right to commit
addicts for disqualification, it |
should give the right to hold |
the addicts until their cases are
tried. I believe the bill can go
further than it does now but /
favor 1t in principle"