process who are returning from Vietnam. Is that correct? What do you intend to do with these men? Have you reached far enough in your planning yet, Mr. Secretary, to know? What if in the processing for separation and return home in the course of the next 6 months you discover 10,000 heroin addicts, what you are going to do with them?

Mr. KELLEY. We have not reached that final decision, Mr. Chairman. Between the various actions available, one obviously being, keep people in Vietnam for identification, detoxification, and treatment; another option being send them back to the States immdiately; a third option being do a part of the job in Vietnam and a part of the job back in the States, we are in the process of inventorying our total resources for the handling of this kind of problem that will enter into the judgment of where we do it and how we do it. Senator HUGHES. Are there presently adequate facilities to handle them if you should decide to bring them back?

Mr. KELLEY. I guess I would have to say yes, but there may have to be some adaptations made and some quick alterations of quarters that have been closed for the purpose of this special purpose, but we will handle it, whatever the numbers are.

Senator HUGHES. Mr. Secretary, I could go on for a great length of time, which I don't propose to do. I was going to ask a series of questions in relationship to the recommendations I sent to the Pentagon with the report, and to which there was an inadequate

response.

It did not indicate an adequate response or any special sense of priority in dealing with this problem. The wording was such that it did not indicate clearly, at least to the chairman, what the intentions of the Pentagon were.

To give you an example, my first recommendation in the Armed Services area was, and I quote:

The Armed Forces should give special priority to developing reliable methods of identifying drug abusers and potential drugs abusers at the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Stations and elsewhere in the military system.

Individuals who are rejected for service in the Armed Forces because of drug abuse or drug dependence should, with their consent, be referred to appropriate civilian prevention and treatment facilities.

The consideration or the feasibility of making entrance examinations more effective and screening out drug abusers is supported. What are you doing about it?

Mr. KELLEY. Let's talk about the past performance. The number of people coming through the Armed Forces Entrance Examination Station program who are drug users and are so identified, is on the increase.

In the last calendar year. for example, we identified almost 2,600 people, and against the total number of people drafted, that would be approximately 11% percent. That is a significantly higher percent than identified in anv previous year of record.

So I think this is an indication that we are imposing stiffer screening standards through the Armed Forces Examination program. Ther 10 question that our response to the points you have just read . This is why we ask for the opportunity to return a hen we could talk in a more particular way about the

stepped up and widely expanded program which we have in the formative stage now, because we know we are not doing as much as we must in this area.

Senator HUGHES. We certainly want to. You have been very cooperative and we appreciate that. I realize you asked this hearing be delayed in order to be better prepared but we felt that it was important to find out the procedures that you are developing because some things can be done legislatively that you might be affected by. I do appreciate the fact that you want to return and fill us in. It has been reported, as you heard many times, that there could be as high as 40,000 users of heroin in Vietnam.

According to the Department of Defense figures recently supplied, during the past 2 calendar years at least 16,000 enlisted men have been discharged from the service because of drug abuse.

These received administrative discharges or punitive discharges resulting from court martial. We already have, obviously, thousands and probably tens of thousands of young American men who have been discharged from the services who have a drug dependency or an addiction problem.

Testimony has indicated today that the VA hospital system has the present capability of handling less than 300 at five centers and many of these 16,000, because of the nature of the discharges, are not eligible for Veterans Administration services.

In the VA, as well as in the civilian sector, as has been strongly pointed out, we have a limited capacity to handle anyone.

If there is a high incidence of input from the military into the civilian sector right now for any reason, those men are simply going to be on the streets, forced to steal and commit crimes to survive, and pretty well trained by our military forces in the matter of survival to where they will have to use that training to keep the monkey off their back.

So I think we all share that responsibility to try and do something about the magnitude of this problem. I have stated repeatedly that I believe heroin addiction in this country is of epidemic proportions, not only in the military.

The Congressman cited the most recent new estimates of 250,000 heroin addicts in this country. I estimate it is much more than that. So we are in the midst of a crisis in America and in the military, and it is up to the military and to Congress to try and supply everything that is essential. Mr. Secretary, you were given this morning an amendment that is sponsored by Mr. Javits and me, to the draft bill on the Senate floor.

I realize this is very short notice, but I would like to know whether you agree with the amendment. If you do not agree with it, what do you disagree with and why?

Mr. KELLEY. First, Mr. Chairman, I have had the opportunity to do nothing more than read it through a couple of times.

Senator HUGHES. For identification, it is H.R. 6531, amendment No. 152.

(A copy of the amendment with accompanying explanation follows:)

65-419 0-71- -12

AMENDMENT

Intended to be proposed by Mr. HUGHES (for himself, Mr. JAVITS, Mr. BYRD of West Virginia, Mr. WILLIAMS, and Mr. GRAVEL), to H.R. 6531, an Act to amend the Military Selective Service Act of 1967; to increase military pay; to authorize military active duty strengths for fiscal year 1973; and for other purposes, viz:

1 Add a new title at the end thereof, as follows:

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"SEC. 401. Drug dependence is rapidly increasing with

7 in the Armed Forces, especially among draftees. National 8 and international organizations and experts representative of

Amdt. No. 152

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1 those most knowledgeable and most experienced in the treat2 ment and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons have 3 found that drug dependence is an illness or disease which re4 quires treatment through health and rehabilitation services. "Drug dependent persons commit a high percentage of

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6 crime in order to secure funds with which to supply their 7 drug habits. Incarceration and other punishment without 8 appropriate treatment has proved ineffective to deter drug 9 related crime and to meet the human need of drug dependent 10 persons. Effective and successful treatment and rehabilitation 11 services offer the best possibility of meeting such human 12 needs and of avoiding a high rate of recidivism. 13 "A national effort to identify and reduce the public 14 health problem of drug dependence in the Armed Forces 15 should be made. Such an effort requires an immediate, major 16 commitment of health and social resources and Federal funds. 17 It is the purpose of this title to mandate such a commitment. "IDENTIFICATION OF DRUG DEPENDENT PERSONS

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"SEC. 402. The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe and 20 implement procedures for identifying drug dependent persons 21 at the earliest possible stage of their dependence. Such policy 22 shall include provisions for

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"(a) utilizing all practical available methods to identify drug dependent persons among individuals ex

amined at Armed Forces examining and entrance sta

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tions. Such persons, if drug dependent, shall be refused entrance into the Armed Forces and shall be referred to

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civilian treatment facilities; and

"(b) utilizing all practical available methods to periodically examine each member of the Armed Forces to determine if such person is a drug dependent person.

"TREATMENT ENCOURAGED

"SEC. 403. The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe and 9 implement a policy which shall embody the following princi10 ples and guidelines:

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11 "(a) Drug dependent persons who are members of the 12 Armed Forces shall be encouraged to seek treatment and 13 rehabilitation services for their drug dependence within the 14 Armed Forces and shall not be subject to disciplinary or 15 other punitive action based on information given in seeking or receiving such assistance. Absolute medical confidentiality 17 shall be preserved unless competent medical authority deter18 mines that such a person is a danger to himself or to others. 19 No information divulged by such a person in medical confi20 dence shall be admitted into evidence in disciplinary pro21 ceedings against him without his consent. When a specialized 22 job classification or the pay advantages directly related to 23 such classification has been withdrawn from a member of the 24 Armed Forces who has sought assistance for his drug de