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27 Fed. Probation 24 (1963)
An Alternative Proposal for Dealing with Drug Addiction

handle is hein.journals/fedpro27 and id is 102 raw text is: An Alternative Proposal for Dealing With Drug Addiction By REPRESENTATIVE EMANUEL CELLER Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary RUG ADDICTION has come to present signifi- cant problems in our society. The nature of those problems was intensively explored at the recent White House Conference, September 27 and 28, 1962, and a number of suggestions for dealing with them were considered. It was apparent from the discussions that if drug ad- diction presents problems, so too does our ap- proach in dealing with them. What are the most effective methods? Are these methods fair to the individual? How should the responsibility for dealing with drug addiction be allocated among the various levels of government? It seems to me these are questions which must be asked about every proposal that is advanced for the solution of one of the most perplexing social pathologies of our time. My own concern with the problems of narcotic addiction and the illicit traffic in drugs has been long and continuing. Not only do these problems vitally affect my city and state, but as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives I am concerned with them in terms of the federal criminal laws, federal law- enforcement activities, the effective functioning of the federal judiciary, and the operations of our penal institutions. I am, needless to say, par- ticularly interested in finding some practicable way of salvaging our addicts. Prominent in the discussions at the White House Conference was a proposal for the establishment at the federal level of a program for the civil commitment of addicts. This bill (S.864, 88th Congress) would give addicts charged with viola- tion of certain federal criminal laws relating to narcotics an option to elect civil commitment instead of being prosecuted. Anyone electing civil commitment would be incarcerated for up to 36 months to free himself of the habit and then undergo a probationary period of aftercare for not more than 2 years. The mechanism of the proposal would give the person charged with the crime the right to elect to take a physical exami- nation to determine if he is a drug-user. If he is found to be one, he must submit to commitment. Weaknesses of Proposed Federal Civil Commitment Procedures It seems to me the major shortcoming of this program is the retention in its mechanism of too many elements of punishment. This is clear from the conditions which the bill attaches to eligibility for treatment. The first hurdle a drug-user must surmount in order to take advantage of the civil commitment program is to be considered an eligible person. However, there is no definition of the term eli- gible person. Rather, the bill sets out six reasons for denying eligibility. The exclusionary provisions deny civil com- mitment to (1) anyone charged with a federal narcotics offense which involved the sale or transfer of narcotics; (2) anyone presently charged with another crime or serving a sentence; (3) anyone convicted of a felony on a prior oc- casion; or (4) anyone who has had a prior civil commitment. Eligibility for commitment is also denied (5) where facilities for the treatment of the drug-user are not available, or (6) if it is not in the interest of justice to commit the person civilly. In addition, any eligible person who had a prior opportunity to elect civil com- mitment and did not do so is thereafter barred from utilizing this program. The first exclusion, in denying civil commitment to persons charged with the sale of narcotics, seems to eviscerate the proposal. The law-enforce- ment activities of the Federal Government with respect to narcotics are now, and have in the past, been limited to suppressing the traffic in drugs. Therefore, almost everyone who is brought before a federal court on a narcotics violation will be charged with an offense which involved the sale or transfer of narcotics. While it is true that there are some federal narcotic offenses which do not involve sale or transfer, such as 21 U.S.C. 174, under which the mere unlawful possession of heroin is an offense, these sections are not often used in indictments. Under the circumstances, we would be setting up

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