Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-16
Hunt for Addicts Yields
One 16-Yeor-OId Girl


at her sweater and the trembling
as she lighted a cigarette.
The detectives decided not to
wait any longer for Eddie. 1t
was possible other detectives had
picked him up by now. Some-
how. they had to figure out a
way 10 get the girl into the
hospital.
Baked by Regulations
There were regulations sur
rounding the new law. Police
were required to write up a
statement and get it notarized.
They they had to take the no
tarized statment to the hospital.
where a resident physician
would decide whether they had
sufficient probable cause to pick
up a suspected addict.
They needed a pickup order
like the one they had for Eddie
and for the 19-year-old. But
where were they to find a notary
at that hour of the night? And
what were they to do with the
girl?
They piled everybody into their
lcar-the girl and the two men.
They delivered the men to the
nearest station house to be
hauled on to headquarters in a
patrol wagon. They stopped for
coffee but Clara shook her head.
They stopped again. They
wanted Clara to see the woman
they had tried to put up earlier.
She still wasn't home.
They brought Clara to the de-
serted Narcotics Squad Office.
Detective Holcomb faced her
across typewriter.
Quizzed on Associates
This is an addict form" he
said. 1T stays right in this Of
flee. You don't have to answer
any Of my questions but we want
what you say on this form to be
the truth. First of all, we want
to know who your associates
are?"
Clara still shook her head. 81
can't tell you" she whispered.
why not?"
Don't want to get anybody in
trouble"
Look. kid" said Detective
Holcomb, you have a 13-year-
old sister. You want her to eoI
on the stuff?"
Her eyes widened. "She
wouldn't"
you say that now. but who's
going to stop her? The man who
gives you the stuff. what's tol
keep him from giving it to her?"
Clara murmurmed a name.
Hes the one who hit me-
(put the needle in her ARM.
Story Comes Out
Haltingly, under gentle but
persistent questioning, the story
came out.
She had been in the ninth
grade in Junior high school in
April, 1855, when she saw Eddie
sniff heroin. She stole a cap
sule from him and tried it her
self. 1t made her sick. She
doesn't know when she tried it
again.
She continued to Snort
inhale-heroin for two months
and then a man shot it into her
arm. Why?
He said I would feel it
quicker. she whispered.
She never did shoot it into
herself, even when her habit be-
came four capsules of heroin a
day.
Il was afraid" she explained.
She had made good marks in
school and particularly liked to
study cooking but when school
started again last September
she didn't go. Why not?
I was pregnant" she said
softly. Then I had a nisear-
riage."
She said she had never had
anything to do with boys before
she went on narcotics. AS she
sat there, her feet not even
touching the floor. she looked as
II she should be playing with
dolls.
Lost in Weight
She weighed los pounds at the
time she left school. Now she
weighed SO.
The detectives had heard
enough. Besides. she had been
sick again and this time they
thought they saw blood. They
wanted to get her into District
General. The only way they
could figure was to have her
volunteer. Clara refused.
I'VE can't help you" Detective
Panetta told her. 1.-THE only
one who can help you is you.
You're just a young girl now
but you're not going to keep
on looking that way. / wish you
could have seen that woman we
tried to pick up tonight. She's
"a and looks 80. She can hardly
walk"
Detective Holcomb picked it
up.
You're right in the midst of
this" he said. You're a nice
lO0kin9 kid You rnlIld Get. q