CRISIS IN DRUGS

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 17

CRISIS IN DRUGS

‘U.S. has not seen worst’ (N.Z Press Assn.—Copyright) KANSAS CITY, Aug. 31. Mr John Finlator, Deputy Director of the United States Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, said the U.iited States had not yet seen the worst of the drug crisis.

“I wish I could say drug abuse has reached its peak and is dropping off, but I can’t," Mr Finlator said.

“We had hoped it would slow down in the late 60s, but in the last two years heroin use has greatly increased.

“In the '6os the hippies said they would use marijuana and LSD but never turn to heroin,” said Mr Finlator in an interview.

“But just two years later it’s common knowledge that heroin is our major drug problem.” He said that drug abuse had spread from older teenagers to junior high and even grammar school pupils. Mr Finlator said: “Police can hit the suppliers but curbing the market is the only way we can eliminate drug abuse. “The most effective antidrug abuse education comes when every man and woman on the street, every educator and parent, works to discourage the use of illegal drugs,” he said.