Drug Abuse - Boston Police discuss street drugs in 1968 - STP, heroin, cocaine and marijuana

and here you see the nickel bag of heroin glassine bag little envelope much like the type of envelope that stamp collectors use and it contains 90 mg of a white powder a percentage of that white powder is the highly addictive heroin this is the $5 of the nickel bag the $5 bag uh in New York City sells for $10 on the streets of Boston the same nickel bag sells for $20 on the streets of Providence so it shows uh that if you do have a heroin Habit in places like Providence or Boston and you need your substance three or four times a day you've got a very very expensive habit now there was a dramatization that you saw at the uh outset of the program here today and it showed a young fellow shooting up turning on taking off and he was utilizing the tools of the trade of the individual who abuses drugs by injection the speed freak or the heroin addict and here are the tools of the trade of these people the eye dropper in the needle the cooker the drug is poured into the cooker and brought to solution taken up into the needle and fired into the veins shot into the veins and the arms the hands or the legs the what frequently happens after repeated administration of the drug this way after sticking needles in the same veins for a continuing period of time tracks are formed or what we call tracks now you see on your screen the arms of a drug addict and you see purple lines go running up and down his arm these are what we call tracks they're caused by collapsed veins and they look like someone has run an indelible pencil up and down his arm along the veins well this is a very brief highlighting of some of the different problems that we have with different substances but the drug problem today is a very complicated and a very complex one and it cannot be adequately covered in 30 short minutes but I do hope that the discussion here today has stimulated in your minds many questions and I do hope that you will go to the telephones and call them into our panel thank you very much police officer offers who would like to ask questions of our panel are requested to call area code 617 [Music] narcotics unit of the Boston Police Department and Richard Callahan Regional director of the Bureau of Narcotics and dangerous drugs the moderator is James P Kelly executive producer of the law enforcement training project we have a question here from U one of our uh listeners why is marijuana which is an exhilarant or henen listed as an archive I'll direct this question to you dick well it's a uh game of words really uh there are two definitions of marijuana there's a medical or a scientific definition which classifies it pharmacologically as a hallucinogenic drug and then there's the legal definition and the legal definition spells out uh what substances uh are illegal and it signifies uh the felony drugs by calling them narcotics other drugs fall into the same uh uh legal area that causes so much confusion cocaine is classified legally speaking as a narcotic drug but it's it's not a down it's not a depressant it's a stimulant drug but it's just a game of words really it depends what definition you're using if you're using a legal definition there are a different range of drugs if you're using the scientific the uh pharmacological definition the uh marijuana falls in the hallucinogenic group thank you dick uh Dr Myerson U you have this Rehabilitation Clinic at Boston State Hospital uh from a medical standpoint uh what percentage would you say of the uh people who come to you or who are sent to you for rehabilitation for drug addiction have been at one time uh involved with marijuana is there a correlation for example between marijuana users and those who later turn on with the stronger drugs such as heroin uh I don't think you can answer the question that way uh I think what we've noted is that um the the use of marijuana and the dangerous use of marijuana uh differs in different social classes and social groups uh uh and um uh in some of these groups it becomes the they they do as the federal people have noted switch from marijuana to uh heroin but in other groups we have noted uh especially among the newer younger white groups that they not do not necessarily start off with marijuana they may indeed start off with the what is thought to have been a Harless cough preparation and then going on to the Rober any of the Codine cough operations which should be included in discussion because that can be dangerous it sure can it as a matter of fact I've seen people bombed out of their skulls with that uh preparation and I think most druggists are now aware of it I know that more perceptive police in particularly some of the smaller communities in towns are in contact with their druggers for that reason to try and find out uh you know which of the young children or young people in the town have been the consistent purchases of this preparation you find that true well I think uh when we uh the legislature you know uh this became such a tremendous problem as Dr Meers well knows that the legislature did pass a law last year requiring that these young people under 21 years of age have a prescription for these exempt narcotic drugs especially the cough medicine so it did become such an acute problem that they did pass special legislation to sort of um help the situation Captain there's another question that has come in here I'll direct this to you uh in that it involves not only drugs but uh also I think the uh question of search and seizure or permission what can a police officer do in the case of a pupil in school whose drug use is known or suspected for example can the school give the police permission to search the pupil's desk or Locker well here again we get into a pretty gray area some schools uh when the student uh enlists or when he signs up gives the school of permission to uh perform certain duties such as examining a room or a dormatory and so forth now uh whether or not that would really involve a search of a room we've had several cases by the way that did uh originate on this uh plane where a a house mother or a uh person in charge of a dmitory or a uh a house connected with a college uh would uh conduct a search of the and find the drug and then we' entered the picture and uh in many cases the court has appell that particular uh investigation and in almost as many cases they've thrown it out in that basis I'll tag you with another one now Captain while you're hot on the mic here how can a police officer who is arrested a drug user who is quote on the nod unquote or someone who's not with it how can you advise him of his constitutional rights well again it would be the degree you know how bad is he uh I'm sure that we've all seen them that are on the n and uh most of them are very well aware of what's going on in the uh in their environment whether they're sitting in a chair and appear to be asleep they're I won't say they're very alert but they above it they know what's going on in terms of uh you know warning them of their rights and so Fort inspector Ro from the uh DOA New Hampshire Police Department and asked for a definition of STP it sounds like a gasoline additive doctor would you uh I don't know what the chemistry is I think mran might know it's classified as a hallucinogen a very potent one indeed right STP is a uh is a drug that uh was an experimental substance in a major chemical house and the chemical formula was stolen and it was uh sold to the underground chem s who started to put it out the the true chemical symbols uh I'm quite sure a doom and it's a very lengthy chemical name which if I rattled off Joe wouldn't believe me but it U uh the the initials SP STP were just arbitrarily given to it and it is a uh far less potent hallucinogenic substance a microgram for microgram than is LSD but it is a very dangerous substance and it is now under Federal control and that's illegal in this country after the program and we're having the cookies and coffee you can rattle it off or we don't use cubes of sugar here uh Dr uh Myerson in this drug rehabilitation center that you uh direct at Boston State Hospital what would you say the greatest number of U cases uh consist of are they the the hardcore users are they the situational or spree users that uh Mr Callahan has talked about before why do these people come to you I think we have two or three groups that come to my mind in the answer to your question uh the first group uh when we with are indeed the hardcore users the heroin users use enormous amounts who are apprehended by the police or the courts or get in trouble serious trouble with their families or with themselves and come in voluntary or non-voluntary for our help either to get withdrawn or to get rehabilitated of both now uh in recent in the past six seven months uh we have been uh quite preoccupied with a group of much younger drug takers who uh experimenting and using all kinds of drugs from the hallucinate gens uh to the speed methine to the narcotics shifting in a diffuse kind of way uh taking whatever really is available and we have found these very young people to be quite sick uh constituting a serious medical and social and psychiatric problem um and we're along with other people quite concerned about the uh this particular and by extension I guess you could add a legal problem since if they're not treated the they will become you know future problem for the police or for for the authorities uh on that score um what uh provision is there now in the federal government for example take do they have any option as to Commitment as against incarceration for drug addiction well yes there's a new program which we uh relatively knew the narcotic attic Rehabilitation Act of 1966 and we recently held a a meeting here in Boston with the people from the National Institute of Mental Health and Dr Meers was at that meeting and this is the newest Federal program for people who are drug addicts and it is a more Progressive approach most people feel and there are Provisions whereby people can voluntarily uh commit themselves to the program where uh in lie of criminal prosecution they can be admitted to the program or whereby uh relatives or next of kin can by petitioning the courts have people who are radics put into the program and the or the difference in the new program I think is the first phase is a clinical type of treatment such as at Lexington Kentucky for a x number of months or years and after that there are uh Provisions for after care in the home environment in the home community and the N imh will uh select counselors in the home area and they will act more or less like probation but they'll have very very few number of addicts uh that they'll be working with not 100 or 150 Captain Jordan does this extend to the city too CU if you you must have these problems where parents or uh next of kin so to speak come in and uh ask you before it reaches a u you know police problem in the form of an arrest well that's why I say uh thank God for Dr Mason's uh Rehabilitation Clinic because uh you do have an option now oh yeah many cases uh we refer them right out there and uh uh we're also utilizing the services of the federal government in terms I think uh Mr Callahan was very thoughtful in arranging one of our young addicts go down there to Lexington under the federal program so I hope between the two of them that uh eventually we'll come up with some sort of an answer with this they used to have an expression for that they call it blueg grassing him and they' sent him down to Kentucky to Lexington uh incidentally U dick on the uh program and I want to compliment you again in a very excellent lecture I think it's the first time I've seen pot in a pot I don't know you manage that we have a question from uh Albert Neil auxiliary patrolman in fitzburg Massachusetts who wants to know what is the best way to determine from outward appearances whether a person is on a trip with LSD other words what would be the external well it's uh LSD is a very unpredictable substance uh it's uh there are a few basic things which uh do generally occur there's a flushing there's a trembling there's a uh a dilation of the pupils but it's such a very volatile substance that it affects different people in different ways some people have good trips some people have bad trips some people jump out the window but I think that if there's an individual who is having an LSD experience that uh it's fairly apparent that they are undergoing some type of a real violent chemical reaction but there's no a plus b equals c type of circumstances that occur with LSD doctor have you had experience with that Yeah Yeah in our we in our experience U we're limited to those who have a bad trip of course the people with a good trip wouldn't seek us out and um when they're in a bad trip uh it's characterized by a very frightening and bizarre experience that's a psychosis with hallucinations and act and sometimes the um the hallucinations are acted out by the person I think there was quite a extraordinary fine Dr ization of the problem on one of the uh television shows recently of a young girl who took the neighbors's next door I think it was called um who took an LSD trip and um it's it constitute uh an illness that that in many ways has to be treated uh in medical and psychiatric circumstances but going along with that question doctor most of the individuals at least the ones that I've uh come in contact with when they ingest LSD they become uh uh completely disorientated for the period of length of time they're under the influence of the drug yes but there are different degrees of disorientation I think I supp it would people are well organized enough to handle their feelings of being disoriented and enjoy them I imagine there's a tolerance Factor work there too we have a question from the audience from uh Jean barell team yes I would like to address my question to Captain Jordan of the Boston Police Department in the case in Boston if a man was seen operating erratically in an automobile and the police stopped him and did feel that he was under the influence of narcotic drugs and he was brought to the Station House while being booked and he is told of the charge if he said that he felt he was not under the influence of drugs and requested to have his own doctor come there and make a test would this be permitted and if it is permitted would the police then counteract with the police doctor to ver ify the findings of the person's own possession well again uh I would assume that this would be possible in other words if a person was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of an aroic drug I think it would be incumbent upon the police to prove that charge and I think the police would have to if they let's say had no drug and uh were depending upon a physical observation which we are not experts would have to depend upon the medical profession to provide that expertise like uh I would assume a physician would be called it may be a police doctor uh the police would call and the uh defendant I think would be entitled to call a position of his choice so I think it would be permissible under these circumstances to uh do this again you get two different opinions you might get a an opinion from the police doctor that he is and you might get an opinion from the other doctor that he isn't ially inent this subject isn't one of the problems uh with uh the people who raised the argument about the use of alcohol and the use of U marijuana the fact that alcohol is measurable legally measurable in the individual's blood whereas with marijuana even though the active ingredient uh THC is known it's not measurable at the time true they at the bruizer and so forth fine for for the guy who you know had the booze but the one who's uh you know been on the pot it's a little more diff called to tell from unless you find a roach in the car unless you find it in his pocket or he admits to having smoked was the odor present in the car or something but in the absence of that I don't think that there is any chemical uh which I think is one of the strongest obstacles incidentally despite all the uh you know uh comments that we have had on it with the recent case before judge Toro here uh one of the strongest obstacles is the fact that there is no way to measure it and that the person is a definite menance he's lost his local mobility and in the sense of alcoholism but not necessarily in the sense of uh you know using marijuana one of the hallucinogens incidentally dick you mentioned before uh you referred to U some material some written material and I'm just wondering if you have material for example of those in our television audience or those here in our studio uh might want to refer to in the field of drug abuse that can be sent to these individuals on request well yes the uh we do have a uh quite a variety of 12 or 4 Publications uh a manual for law enforcement offices and we also pulled together something that I think is very useful to police the what we call a list of chemical precursors and these are the chemical precursors that you have to have before you can make these hallucinogenic or these psychedelic drugs in an illegal or a clandestine laboratory they're long complex names but uh it is valuable to have if you go into a into a place and you find variety of chemicals and paraphernalia to uh be able to match them up against the list well for example if somebody has a supply of acetic and hydride you know that he might possibly be trying to take more fend base and make heroin right and the same with uh well there is there are a whole range of uh of chemicals for making DMT and LSD and some of the others I think that's how Dr Jackal started we have movies we've got two WE schools we've got a great number of services but uh if they do write to the office we can give them a complete rundown what is available rest that they can right to yes it is it's uh join F Kennedy Federal Building Boston Mass now I might add incidentally for those of you who are outside the uh New England area uh there is an office uh for example in Washington there's one we have headquarters in Washington we have offices in New York Philadelphia and we have 17 of them around the if anyone is in doubt as to where to write they can write to your office here they can write to us and we will uh forward the letter to the appropriate Place do we have any more questions from our audience Captain Kerwin from the Medford Police Department he do uh I have just one on uh cocaine I understand that it affects the central nervous system as a stimulant and yet is used as a local anesthetic and uh I would like to know from any member of the panel who could tell me what medical phenomena is involved here if any I think that sort of points in your direction I think you uh as asked the question the only way that can be aners it just happens to have these properties of uh on the one hand being a local anesthetic and a very useful one and on the other hand being a central nervous system stimulant that's just the nature of the this curious drug um from what I understand it's relatively hard to get in Boston it's hard to get than the other it comes from South America from Mostly from Peru doesn't it there's a new tra cocaine has grown tremendously in popularity the main problem from an enforcement standpoint incidentally as far as cocaine is concerned is that the people who use it generally can afford it they're more affluent people and they're not the type that are likely to uh give up their Source that's true but I don't is this true that the uh if it's used by physicians as a local anesthetic that Supply is never used um illegally it's mostly well we have encounted some pharmaceutically made cocaine in Boston in the last year but very very little most diverted from legitimate use yes probably through theft from a medical you know Warehouse or something but uh they also have other anodes I think which are probably equally potent as painkillers procaine novocaine and other substances that can be used when you U find cocaine in the powdered form it is usually an indication of an illegal sauce right and it's very expensive as you said it's $20 for a small bag uh on the streets today we have uh any more questions from our audience I see a lot of thoughtful faces out there some of you pouring over your manuals incidentally for those of you in our television audience I remind you again the U number here and also the fact that if you are outside of this area you may call collect you just use the area code 617 number is 491 5600 we have an anonymous question here um called in to what extent is organized crime involved in in drug trafficking I think that that has been pretty well explored in uh both uh documentary TV entertainment TV and most of our media but uh maybe using this as a base question I could ask you dick to what extent is organized crime involved in the new type drugs say in the uh hallucinogen if we could briefly U say well it depends on your definition of what organized crime there is a there there's an organized criminal element involved uh the laosa Nostra the mafia no not to any uh uh appreciable National extent locally in certain areas they are involved to some extent but it's not a part of the international conspiracy uh to our knowledge I think the fact that can be made in this country and uh they generally tend to uh get into things that can be smuggled in well that's true their involvement in the heroin traffic uh they've been getting further and further away from it in recent years they stay in the very high I think have been responsible for that and the federal courts that's all we have time for today gentlemen I want to thank you again Dr marrison Captain Jordan and our leurer to Callahan and I want to thank you here in the audience who have uh come into the program today and helped us make it a success e [Music] the [Music]