HEALTH Our first concern must be to assure that the advance of medical knowledge leaves none behind. We can--and we must--strive now to assure the avail ability of, and accessibility to, the best health care of all Americans, regardless of age or geography or economic status. Advancing The Nation's Health-- DRUG ABUSE CONTROL AMENDMENTS OF 1965 The Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965 became Public Law No. 74 (89th Congress) on July 15, 1965, when President Johnson signed H.R. 2 in a ceremony in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The amendments--which add far greater Federal controls over the manufacture, distribution, delivery, and possession of depressant and stimulant drugs, including barbiturates, amphetamines, and other psychotoxic drugs having a potential for abuse because of their depressant or stimulant effect on the central nervous system or because of their hallucinogenic effect--becomes effective on February 1, 1966. The new law also gives the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare stronger enforcement powers to prevent the counterfeiting of drugs. amendments do not apply to narcotic drugs (opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana, etc.) which are regulated by the Treasury Department under a separate statute. In response to the strong recommendation of the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse, and to the endorsement by President Johnson in his Health Message to the Congress (January 7, 1965) and in his Crime Message (March 8, 1965), the bill to restrict illicit traffic in stimulant and depressant pills was passed unanimously by both Houses of the 89th Congress. The President's Commission, in its final report of November 1963, made the broad request that, '...all non-narcotic drugs capable of producing serious psychotoxic effects when abused be brought under strict control of Federal statute." President Johnson laid out the guideline for the required legislation in his Health Message: "I recommend legislation to bring the production and distribution of barbiturates, amphetamines, and other psychotoxic drugs under more effective control....authority to seize counterfeit drugs at their source." Later, in the Crime Message, he stressed the urgent need for such legislation: ་་ This legislative summary was prepared by Robert N. Hills, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary (for Legislation), U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Health, Education, and Welfare Indicators, Sept. 1965 HEALTH Our first concern must be to assure that the advance of medical knowledge leaves none behind. We can--and we must--strive now to assure the avail ability of, and accessibility to, the best health care of all Americans, regardless of age or geography or economic status. Advancing The Nation's Health-- DRUG ABUSE CONTROL AMENDMENTS OF 1965 The Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965 became Public Law No. 74 (89th Congress) on July 15, 1965, when President Johnson signed H.R. 2 in a ceremony in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The amendments--which add far greater Federal controls over the manufacture, distribution, delivery, and possession of depressant and stimulant drugs, including barbiturates, amphetamines, and other psychotoxic drugs having a potential for abuse because of their depressant or stimulant effect on the central nervous system or because of their hallucinogenic effect--becomes effective on February 1, 1966. The new law also gives the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare stronger enforcement powers to prevent the counterfeiting of drugs. The amendments do not apply to narcotic drugs (opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana, etc.) which are regulated by the Treasury Department under a separate statute. In response to the strong recommendation of the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse, and to the endorsement by President Johnson in his Health Message to the Congress (January 7, 1965) and in his Crime Message (March 8, 1965), the bill to restrict illicit traffic in stimulant and depressant pills was passed unanimously by both Houses of the 89th Congress. The President's Commission, in its final report of November 1963, made the broad request that, '...all non-narcotic drugs capable of producing serious psychotoxic effects when abused be brought under strict control of Federal statute.' President Johnson laid out the guideline for the required legislation in his Health Message: "I recommend legislation to bring the production and distribution of barbiturates, amphetamines, and other psychotoxic drugs under more effective control....authority to seize counterfeit drugs at their source." Later, in the Crime Message, he stressed the urgent need for such legislation: This legislative summary was prepared by Robert N. Hills, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary (for Legislation), U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Health, Education, and Welfare Indicators, Sept. 1965 "Increasing illegal sales of psychotoxic drugs, such as barbiturates 'Our existing legal weapons are inadequate. I therefore urge the Congress to enact legislation to control the abuse of these dangerous drugs without constricting their legitimate medical uses." THE DRUG ABUSE PROBLEM The major thrust of the legislation is aimed at barbiturates and amphetamines. Barbiturates (commonly known in the illegal market as "goof balls") are depressants of the central nervous system, amphetamines (known popularly as "pep pills") are central nervous system stimulants. Both drugs are widely manufactured and distributed for legitimate use. A number of barbiturates are the drug of choice for many physicians in cases of insomnia, nervousness, hypertension and various other conditions of pain or tension. Amphetamines, in various forms, are prescribed for a wide spectrum of uses ranging from weight control to the stimulation of an extra-alert state in astronauts during reentry into the earth's atmosphere. The non-medical illicit distribution of these drugs, however, equals or surpasses their legitimate consumption. From a recent reliable survey of reputable drug manufacturers, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that 41⁄2 billion pills per year are diverted into illicit channels. The results of this drug diversion are reflected in accident, crime and delinquency reports from communities across the Nation. In 1964, the then Attorney General of California, Stanley Mosk, stated that in his State, "Dangerous drugs are a bigger problem for youths than heroin or In metropolitan New York the problem has reached such proportions that plans for a new mental hygiene clinic for adolescents make special provisions for those using dangerous drugs. Increased use of dangerous drugs was estimated at over 25 percent from 1962 to 1963. Drugs which are a blessing to the sick when properly used are a curse to the person who becomes habituated to them, and a menace to society. The traffic in heroin and other narcotics is being overshadowed by the peddling of barbiturates, amphetamines, and other depressant and stimulant drugs, such as LSD-25 and some tranquilizers. There is evidence that such traffic has become an even more serious problem than the narcotics evil. |