PAY-OFF IN PAIN

[Music] of grave concern to people everywhere is the problem of drug addiction and the control of illegal drug traffic across boundaries and through seaports under the cover of darkness drug smugglers run the blockade of customs and police [Music] the illicit traffic exceeds by far the lawful shipments needed by hospitals in the medical profession to the criminal world supplying the demand of drug addicts is big business a single pound of opium bought in bombay for fifty dollars can fetch up to nine hundred dollars at an american or canadian port and broken down for sale to drug addicts fifteen thousand dollars traffic in drugs and the use of drugs is fostered by no one race drugs affect all races and all classes of people crude and refined opium is brought in from producer countries but pure opium is seldom used today it is converted into other drugs in secret factories the big demand is for these derivatives of opium the narcotic drugs useful in medicine to relieve pain and to induce sleep used without supervision they can become dangerous habit-forming drugs once the habit is formed the addict taking his drugs in secret must have a continual supply at all costs but lawfully imported drugs are not available to him he must turn to an illegal source he must have his drug several times a day or he suffers painfully as he gets used to the drug his need increases and when he can no longer afford to supply himself he tries a cure or pleads for a jail sentence in jail he is perfectly well without drugs after a period of sickness but out of jail he always returns to them often against his will and a vicious circle of pleasure and pain begins again [Music] the drug habit often starts through association with addicts these are the drug addicts they form a coherent group in every large city they are known to the police almost all of them have long records not necessarily for narcotic offenses but through the constant criminal activity which pays for the drugs they must have drugs bring little real pleasure but the addict needs them just to feel normal addiction is not confined to the criminal class some have turned to drugs in times of personal stress and have become unable later to do without them others have been addicted to drugs prescribed during illness this is a constant concern of medical authorities aware of the dangers of the opiates [Music] drugs are a principal commodity of organized crime central operators supply dealers in big cities throughout the country they ship the drugs in quantity so many ounces at a time the dealers move from town to town setting up overnight shop where they prepare the drugs for distribution to the peddlers everyone who handles the drug mixes other substances with it to increase his profit on the deal when the drug reaches the addict the narcotic content is often very low smashing this machinery of supply is the main object of the law enforcement officers [Music] an average habit with drugs bought from peddlers costs an addict as much as ten thousand dollars a year this means that he pays out almost thirty dollars every day the peddler deals directly with the addicts to avoid being caught with the drugs on his person he keeps them in readily accessible hiding places [Music] several times a day the addicts meet with their peddler since the last meeting they have been busy raising enough cash for the next dose theft directly attributable to drug addiction causes a staggering annual loss to legitimate business for no job will pay for the drugs an addict must have every few hours another forbidden drug but differing in its action from the opiates is cocaine it is taken as a stimulant the addict gets a temporary lift but cocaine is a poison that disorganizes the nervous system and produces mental confusion many believe that addiction should be made a crime that the addict should not be permitted to destroy himself and infect his community that fear of punishment is a deterrent to crime and would reduce the number of addicts others say the use of drugs is an expression of weakness that in itself would never be considered criminal that addiction is an illness and treatment in proper institutions is the only solution whatever the answer one thing is certain addiction and crime go hand in hand those who take cocaine are dangerous to themselves and to others the drug is not so habit-forming as the opiates but it induces physical discomfort distorted ideas and hallucinations [Music] cocaine is often associated with acts of violence a criminal will take cocaine before he goes on a job it gives him a false sense of power and courage prepares him for a deed he would not dare without it [Music] the machinery for international control of drugs badly hampered by the war is being revived by the united nations commission on narcotic drugs today 58 nations determined to fight the drug menace have signed the narcotic drugs protocol the canadian technical advisory committee on narcotic addiction has found that while control is effective in checking its spread jail does little to solve the addiction problem that some otherwise useful people convicted for the first time for possession of drugs are confirmed in jails to a life of addiction and crime enforcing the narcotics laws in canada as in other countries are specially trained squads of police they work in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies with regional and civic police and customs agents across the country and with narcotics enforcement bodies throughout the world canada's department of national health and welfare keeps track of the legal distribution and sale of drugs as well as supervising all illegal seizures and prosecutions arising from illegal traffic the peddler is the chief target of enforcement officers he operates more or less in the open trusting to his wits to keep him from being caught red-handed [Music] [Applause] but as one peddler is caught and sentenced another takes his place as long as there are addicts there will be peddlers [Music] [Applause] it is the control personnel who see it closest hand the hopeless round the same men and women going in and out of jails year after year who make the strongest plea for some further method of dealing with addiction other than jails alone in the growing mass of research data people are beginning to see why a man turns to drugs that it stems from a basic weakness in his personality a weakness that in many cases can be corrected that he is a man who with the aid of mental and physical treatment can be rehabilitated in society and unable to face life without reliance on drugs for those addicts who could be useful citizens jail should not be left the only answer you