Mr. HALPERN. The thrust of the legislation is to make the identiication, treatment and rehabilitation of GI addicts a mandatory obligation of the armed forces.

A key feature of the bill would provide that servicemen be required to take tests, urinalysis or other scientifically developed neans, to identify addiction and that such tests begin at least 6 nonths prior to discharge. Inasmuch as abstinence from drugs for 8 hours would preclude detection, the bill further requires repeated esting processes at unannounced times. Then once ascertained as a ser, the serviceman would be required to go through the rehabiliation program.

The period of time the GI's cure takes-this is a key feature of the ill-would not be included within his military commitment and is length of service would be deferred until the obligation of active uty is fulfilled through a comparable extension beyond his original ischarge date. This provision, I feel, would overcome the legal uestion of extended military service beyond the obligated period. urther, the requirement to defer discharges would serve as an effecve deterrent to the taking of drugs. Too many GI's have taken the rug route as a means of being discharged from the service before heir time is up and this bill, I believe, would prevent that.

Another feature of the bill would provide massive Federal assistce for nonprofit agencies or institutions in the private sector to ing their facilities into the military's treatment and rehabilitation rogram in order to relieve the heavy load of GI addicts placed pon the Department of Defense. In addition, discharged addicts uld be assisted by such federally aided, qualified voluntary institions to supplement VA and Public Health facilities.

There are many highly commendable agencies and institutions ith the experience, expertise and capability to treat these men, but ey would obviously need considerable assistance in order to carry t the proposed expanded responsibilities.

The bill would create an Armed Forces Narcotics Control Force the Defense Department and a Narcotics Control Force in each anch of the armed services to combat drug abuse problems through ree operational branches-education, rehabilitation, prevention d enforcement.

The proposal would also provide postdischarge programs-this is portant-for those ex-GI's who became addicted prior to the prosed new policy and for those servicemen who may later go back the use of drugs. These facilities will be provided through treatnt and rehabilitation centers which would be established through Hely expanded VA programs, public health programs, as well as ough federally aided agencies and institutions.

Under the bill, no serviceman committed to the care of the rebilitation force shall be tried for offenses regarding possession or of drugs prior to receiving treatment. Veterans certified by the ned forces as having received treatment for drug addiction while active duty will be eligible to receive hospitalization after their aration from active duty or discharge.

Ir. Chairman, I have many other recommendations, but for the itations of time I respectfully submit them to the committee for consideration.

I appreciate the privilege of appearing before you this morning and thank the distinguished Senators on this committee for the kind attention given to me.

(The prepared statement of Congressman Halpern follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN SEYMOUR HALPERN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Six weeks after I left Vietnam after an on-the-scene study of the narcoties problem there, convinced that we have a crisis of horrendous proportions and that we are not, at this stage, prepared to meet it.

I visited Vietnam from April 11 through April 15 as part of an 11-country fact-finding mission for a special report to the Foreign Affairs Committee of which I serve and directed particularly to the Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, the Near East Subcommittee, and the International Organizations Subcommittee; each of which relates to the international aspects involving this problem.

Your committee is also hearing today from two other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee who conducted a similar mission and whose revelations have helped invaluably to focus attention on this problem. I refer to my colleagues, the capable and distinguished Congressman Robert Steele of Connecticut and Morgan Murphy of lulinois.

My own mission was inspired by many years of continuing concern during which I participated on every level in my activities as a public official and private citizen. My concern has been long and deep-rooted. It goes back 18 years when, as a New York State Senator, I sponsored, and became Chairman of, the State's investigation of drug abuse, particularly as it related to our young people. Even then we tried to awaken officialdom and society to the severity of the problem. But most of the pleas fell on deaf ears Everyone seemed to blind themselves to the stark reality of the developing crisis. It was considered a ghetto problem-one that did not affect the aver age parent's own kids or his own neighborhoods. But, tragically, time has shown that it does affect their kids. It's affected all levels of society. It's be come a scourge that has reached epidemic proportions. And the related crime and devastation it has brought has hit every community in this nation.

For eight years I served as Chairman of the Board of the first and only facility of its kind in the world-solely for the treatment and rehabilitation of teenage addicts. In that capacity 1 observed over 4,000 youngsters going through this institution and got to know most of them on a first name basis I learned much of their backgrounds, motivations and agonies.

I have also been serving on the Board, and have been active in the work of one of the largest non-profit institutions in the nation dealing with rehabilitation.

Having been recently appointed to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House, I saw a broadened opportunity to work in the field of narcotics traffic. I have been in frequent consultation with the international agencies dealing with this subject and with representatives of several national governments involved with the problem of drug traffic. Last February I was privileged to attend the UN Conference on Psychotropic Drugs, to which the distinguished Chairman of this subcommittee Senator Hughes, contributed so much as the Congressional advisor to the U.S. delegation.

I cite this background, Mr. Chairman, to indicate the basis of a degree of knowledge and experience in a field which to date, has been so difficult to conquer. It is an intense concern, and that is why I welcome this opportunity of appearing before this distinguished Committee which is doing so much to find the answers.

A few months ago, I went to Fort Bragg and reviewed the program in effect there. On this mission I was accompanied by a few former addicts from the center I mentioned earlier who have been working most effectively in the rehabilitation field. I was able to benefit from their assessment of the program based on first-hand experience. I was most impressed by General Tolson's efforts in this field. Commendable as this program is, it is handicapped by the limitations of outmoded laws, regulations and discharge procedures. The travesty of such a program is that, under present procedures,

the addicted GI's are released before they are amply treated or cured. Once his discharge date comes up, he is released whether he is cured or not.

One highlight of this visit was the revelation that the rate of addiction among GIs at Fort Bragg was considerably higher among those who served in Vietnam as against those who are serving here.

In Vietnam I studied every aspect of the narcotics situation in depth. I conferred with Vietnamese officials, and with military command, with representatives of the Drug Suppression Units, with GI's and with many addicts themselves. I reviewed the efforts the military is undertaking and visited Pioneer House, the initial rehabilitation center in Vietnam.

I was appalled by the epidemic proportions of drug addiction among the GI's there.

Presently I would say there are upwards of 60,000 GI's in Vietnam who are using hard drugs, particularly heroin. This is no exaggeration. The information is based on a cross-section of opinions from the GI's to the addicts themselves; from personnel of the Drug Suppression Units to Army commanding officers. I would be pleased to document the names of these sources for the Committee. Even this figure I believe is conservative. It represents 20% of the GI's in Vietnam, whereas first-hand estimates provided to me by those closest to the picture on the scene say it's close to 30%. As a matter of fact, at some units, particularly where support troops are stationed, such as at Longbinh, the estimates run as high as 50% for those in the E5 category and under.

So I truly feel the 60,000 figure could well be an underestimation of the situation as it actually exists. This staggering figure together with the untold number of released addicts, Mr. Chairman, unquestionably points to drug addiction as being a greater hazard for our military men than the risk of being shot.

One of the reasons for heroin's widespread use in Vietnam is its high quality, its low cost, and its ready availability. To illustrate how easy it was to obtain, I roamed the streets of Saigon and in an area known as Seag Alley I was able to purchase "scag"-as heroin is known there for less than $4 for two 250 miligrams vials. In other words, less than $2 for each vial. I turned over the purchase to the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics where it was analyzed as being 95% pure. The Bureau has been holding my purhase as typical examples of the heroin purchased in Vietnam and has made available for exhibit here this morning the two vials I bought in Scag Alley. This is it--it's 95% pure as compared to 4 to 5 percent purity of the stuff bought on the streets here in Washington, in New York and in most of the cities throughout the country. (And these are pictures taken by Maj. Reilly of the Drug Suppression unit depicting the actual purchase of heroin. While in Vietnam I also went up to Longbinh, the army's largest base here. I donned army fatigues, rode in the van of an army truck in a military convoy. We traveled the roads immediately surrounding the base and found leven "stalls" where scag was being sold openly. Also, teenage pushers would sidle up to the van of my truck to ply their wares. (Exhibit pictures) This demonstrates how easily available, how cheap and how pure heroin s in Vietnam.

Despite this obvious saturation of Vietnam with dope, until now, the ietnamese Government apparently has done little, if anything to crack down n its flow. I conferred with many Vietnamese officials including Vice-Presient Ky. I confronted the Vice-President with the obvious laxity of the Vietamese Government in dealing with the drug problem citing, my own exeriences on how easily I was able to get pure heroin right out in the open. y admitted that until recently his country considered drugs an American roblem but that they can do this no longer for it has become imbedded to their own culture. He implied ineffective leadership by the regime and ssured his own efforts for a new, tough policy.

Of course, the most obvious immediate answer to the GI drug problem Vietnam is to get out of Southeast Asia-to bring our men home. Another obvious movement would be more forceful action by the govnments of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos spurred by U.S. pressure to stop e flow of drugs in the area-a process that has been aided and abetted - official corruption and participation of the politically powerful in those untries.

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The raw opium from which the heroin that flows into Vietnam is derived. is largely cultivated in the Shan State of Burma, which incidentally is out of the control of the central government, by insurgents in the mountainots areas of North Thailand, and in the high altitudes of Laos. It is carried by mule packs, usually guarded by armed outlawed bands, into areas of Thailand. and principally into Laos, where most is processed.

In Laos, as an example, of high level participation a kingpin of the oper ation is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Laotian Army, General Rathi koune Quane. Air America planes have been known to be used in the smug gling process, as evident by recent large seizures.

In Vietnam, Prime Minister Khiem's own brother was the head of the law enforcement division of the customs service at Tan Sonnhut Airport until being replaced after a recent shake-up following disclosures of wide corruption. Another brother of the Prime Minister has been identified by Army investigators as a figure in the opium traffic. Yet he is still on the job as Director of Saigon Port.

It is ludicrous that these operations are flaunted by high officials in nations which are supposed to be our allies.

Therefore, the resulting saturation coupled with the low cost and purity of the drug help provide explanations as to why addiction is spreading among GI's there into such horrifying proportions. The underlying reasons are. however, that some GI's are using it for kicks; some because they are bored Others because it's the thing to do, and in many cases, they just don't like the idea of being there in the first place and this is their escape.

It is significant to note, too, according to the military experts to whom I spoke, that while many of the GI's have experimented with some form of drugs either prior to being in the service or before being sent to Vietnam, the vast majority picked up the heroin habit there.

Countless GI's have fallen prey to the myth that scag is not addictive if snorted or smoked. This has been the prevailing attitude until the recent awareness efforts on all levels in the military.

It is significant to note that out of the large estimates of addicts in Vietnam, only a small number, about 5,500 have enrolled in the Army's drug amnesty rehabilitation program since the first of this year. This is, however, a large increase compared with 2400 for the entire year of 1970. Another appalling fact is that 103 GI's have died of heroin overdoses in 1970. And in the first three months of this year 35 overdose deaths have been reported. There are several U.S. military rehabilitation facilities in Vietnam but these are utilized solely in connection with the amnesty program for those GI's who volunteer. At Pioneer House in Longbinh, which I visited, about 500 GI's have gone through the process since its inception last August. There are an estimated 15 other facilities but none as nearly progressed as Pioneer House.

Despite every effort to review the impact of these programs on the addict. no study has been made of the effectiveness of these programs, nor is there any study available of the different treatment methods of these facilities which might provide us with an overall perspective of the program.

Another startling statistic is that 1003 marines have been discharged in the first four months of 1971 for drug-related offenses. Just imagine, Mr. Chairman, over 1,000 men from the Marines alone since January returned to their communities, each posing a threat to society. I might add that 394 of these Marines received dishonorable discharges and would not qualify for any Veterans' Administration rehabilitation programs, even if one were available. At this point I should mention that although the Veterans' Administration has established five centers throughout the country for the treatment and rehabilitation of discharged GI addicts, as of this morning. these facilities numbered only 100 beds. With countless thousands of addicted ex-GI's we only provide 100 beds, at best, and under present law many of these Veterans wouldn't qualify anyway because of the nature of their discharge.

Another interesting observation is that marijuana is not as prevalent as heroin in most units in the armed forces in Vietnam. It becomes too easily detectable by its odor when smoked, or by trained dogs who have been able to sniff it out from its hiding places. Until about a year ago heroin

use was more the exception among our troops in Vietnam; a very small percent used it. Now it's all over. And the big scene is the smoking of scag sprinkled in ordinary cigarettes. Many GI's get their kicks out of sniffing it. The stuff is so pure that the user gets a full high by merely inhaling it. What he doesn't realize is that it's just as addictival this way as it is through taking it by needle into the veins.

Therefore, one by one the GI's are becoming hooked. And what is so terrifying about this is that the $5 to $6 a day habit in Vietnam could well become a $100 to $200 a day habit here in the States. The heroin that he will obtain here is so diluted that the effect the GI now realizes by snorting or smoking the stuff will be nil when he returns home. It's too diluted here to have much affect. The only way his habit can be fed here is through vein injections.

In most cases, when a GI is found to be addicted, he is given a physical withdrawal process and then is discharged. This results in his return to society before he is ready, and he is faced with the inevitable regression back to drugs. Society has a walking timebomb on its hands.

Furthermore, most of the addicted GI's, unless a broader and more compulsory approach is undertaken, will not be detected or treated before being discharged and returned to their communities. It is only fair to the GI's themselves and to society that these men be identified and rehabilitated before they leave the armed services.

Mr. Chairman, there is no question but that heroin addiction is proving to be more damaging to our society than any other consequences of the war. If a GI had typhoid or malaria, the military wouldn't send him home just because he is due for discharge. It's time for laws to be changed to recognize this tragic reality, and that the identification treatment, and rehabilitation of GI drug users be made a mandatory obligation of the armed forces even if the process of rehabilitation requires an extension of the GI's discharge date.

Actually, I don't think it will be as difficult for the addict in the armed forces to be cured as it is for the addict on the domestic front-especially if the GI is currently under a rehabilitation process or is about to be initiated into the program. In such a case he has a reasonable chance for rehabilitation before he is discharged, rather than going through the ordeal he would otherwise face upon his return-the horrible degradation to support is habit to which he would have to resort when he gets home.

I believe the rehabilitation process will be easier for the GI because his addiction to heroin is relatively new. Some have just started; some have been on drugs for months, but in most instances, it has not been a deeprooted, long-time habit. It is not that imbedded in them and the motivation s not that strong as compared to the motivation of the addict here on the lomestic scene. Here it follows an anti-social pattern, it relates to rebellion gainst authority, against the establishment; it's based on disillusionment, rustration; on anger, bitterness. Then, once addicted a new pattern of life s adopted. And this pattern compounds the addiction-reinforces life-styles nd the user sinks deeper and deeper into his strange world and the problem f cure and rehabilitation becomes all the more difficult.

Mr. Chairman, you and your colleagues on this Committee are to be comended for holding these hearings in the search for solutions to one of he gravest crises ever to face our nation. There must be a massive national ffensive against the narcotics scourge and this calls for bold initiatives y the government on every level, a sweeping overhaul of laws to realistically eet the problem.

The commendable concern of this Committee is to act on effective programs o step up rehabilitation of drug dependent Americans and, in particular, ddicted GI's while in the armed forces or after discharge. This obviously ill call for considerable sums of money and, what is most important, is at these funds be appropriated in meaningful directions. And we must not bor under the notion that addiction can be cured with a single sweep ☛ a miracle agent or agency.

We must immediately prepare for this new assault by appropriating vitally eeded funds to train experts in drug addiction. These experts must evenally find the physical and chemical reason why tissues and the mind become ependent on narcotics and related drugs.