Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4526332
label
Civitan Club, Grand Rapids, MI, October 22, 1970
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4526332
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Civitan Club, Grand Rapids, MI, October 22, 1970
citationUrl
collections
Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Speeches
subjects
Drug abuse
Legislation
iiifBase
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
4526332
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1970-10-31
month
10
year
1970
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1970-10-01
month
10
year
1970
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
url
mediaId
b40483a852946119
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "Civitan Club, Grand Rapids, MI,
October 22, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at
the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
GR, Civitan Chut - Thurs Oct, 22,1970.
moffice Copy
A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R--MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RETAIL DRUGGISTS
AT ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
10:30 a.m., MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
As retail druggists you are engaged in the most popular business in America.
Corner drugstores are being operated--literally, on street corners-by
increasing numbers of self-appointed merchandisers in illicit and dangerous drugs.
Neither is the social problem of drug abuse limited to the illegal street
corner merchandiser and his customers. It also extends to the medicine cabinet in
the home.
This is the Age of Affluence and the Age of Anxiety. And so drug abuse is
no longer restricted to any one part of our population. It is found at all social,
economic and age levels.
Today it is all too easy for anyone of any age who does not like the way he
lives to try a drug in search of euphoria or oblivion.
The drug dilemma facing this country has become a national concern. As the
general alarm over drug abuse has increased, so has the illicit use of drugs. This
trend must be reversed.
The Administration is making strenuous efforts to limit the supply of drugs
of abuse-tespecially the narcotics. But because of the enormity of the task, we
will have to learn to use additional means to control the use of narcotics and
other dangerous drugs.
We have already seen that threats and the imposition of severe punishment
through criminal sanctions have not been an effective deterrent to drug abuse.
The point is that as knowledge of the effects of these drugs becomes more
precise the rules by which their use is proscribed must also be decided precisely.
This is the thrust of new legislation passed by both Houses of the Congress
and now awaiting final shaping.
New legislation has been formulated which legislation I think will
finally enable us to
deal effectively with the menace of drug abuse.
This omnibus drug control bill recently passed by the House is one of the
Daug Abuse Revention and control Act 61970
major accomplishments actions of this session of the giet Congress. It is designed to crack
down--intelligently--on narcotics traffic and use.
(more)
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
newlan
-2-
The NH is a key part of the Administration's efforts to combat the growing
spread of organized and street crime. It authorizes $403 million over three years
for programs ranging from research to law enforcement. It gives the Justice
Department broad powers to deal with organized peddlers of narcotics while seeking
to prevent one-time offenders from being branded as felons.
The bill recognizes that a major method of cracking down on drug abuse is to
strike at the illegal traffic in narcotics.
While the penalty for possession of narcotics for one's own personal use has
been reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, the penalties for distribution of
narcotics have been toughened. Penalties for first offense conviction on narcotics
Stet
peddling have been increased to five years in prison or a $15,000 fine or both. For
distribution for profit to a person under 18 years of age, the penalty will be
10 years or a $15,000 fine or both for the first offense. The bill also provides
extra-long sentences for peddlers involved in a so-called narcotics ring.
The drug and
new abuse narcotics control bill now law near final attacks enactment attacks drug this abuse social
health problem in a number of ways.
It is designed to make it difficult to obtain drugs subject to abuse; to
deter individuals who exploit the weaknesses of others for personal profit through
the illicit sale of drugs, and to punish those who engage in this traffic; to
provide means of deterring individuals from engaging in the abuse of drugs; to
rehabilitate those who have fallen into this trap; and to educate those who might
otherwise be tempted to abuse drugs.
The bill provides increased authority for the Attorney General to control
the manufacture and distribution of drugs subject to abuse.
The bill provides that all persons engaged in the distribution of drugs, from
the manufacturer down to the final dispenser, shall be registered. The registration
requirements for manufacturers and wholesale distributors are of such a nature that
in substance the bill gives licensing authority to the Attorney General.
Retail druggists, physicians, and researchers are required to be registered.
Registration of these persons by the Attorney General is as a matter of right where
the registrant is engaged in activities authorized or permitted under State law.
All persons in the distribution chain are required to keep records subject
to inspection.
The bill also permits the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to identify
and characterize for regulatory purposes substances having a potential for abuse
FORD
(more)
GERALD
LIBRARY
-3-
and to develop adequate screening capabilities to assure that these drugs are drugs
that should be identified at an early stage before control.
This leaves to the National Institute of Mental Health the basic research
into narcotics and dangerous drugs, which is its proper function.
The criminal penalties in the bill are much more flexible than the present
penalty structure and allows judges discretion in sentencing offenders.
answers
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 essily
one of the most important bills passed by the House this year
The Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee strugg Led with it for months,
pondering the broad philosophical differences involved in deciding on an approach
to the drug problem.
There was a pressing need to overhaul existing drug laws.
In past years, hard drugs like heroin and cocaine were controlled from a
tax standpoint and enforcement lay in the Treasury Department. Marihuana appeared
on the scene, and although it was quite a different substance it was pushed in with
the other substances then being controlled. This accounts for the sentencing
structure in marihuana cases up to this point.
When a pattern of abuse began to develop in the use of pep pills and
tranquilizers, it was natural that legislation to curb them would come from the
Commerce Committee as an amendment to the food and drug law.
At that time LSD was no great problem but hallucinogenic drugs were recognized
as a possible source of trouble and so they were included in H.R. 2.
An entirely independent penalty structure was provided, aimed at what seemed
like a separate and distinct problem.
Having two approaches to drug abuse enforcement did not make sense. The
drug culture which emerged in America certainly did not differentiate Consequently
LSD, marihuana and hard drugs like heroin got all mixed in together.
Sorting out the offenders in the same group for purposes of prosecution and
sentencing pointed up the need for & comprehensive approach.
newlan
The bill not only goes thoroughly into the subject of enforcement but also
sets forth an accelerated program for rehabilitation.
Rescuing potential drug abusers and short-stopping drug abuse are actually
more important in the long run than trying to salvage those whose lives drug
addiction has already wrecked.
Many programs today, both in and out of government, are focusing upon the
drug problem.
(more)
-4-
new narcotics lew
Taking these into consideration, the Home bill exerts even greater efforts
in the direction of rehabilitation. It amends the program which creates community
mental health centers to make them available to drug dependent patients. In
addition, extra funds and extra authority are included to put special facilities
into places where the drug problem hits the hardest.
In the ultimate, the success of the war on drugs will depend on the extent
and quality of the education effort engaged in by Government and private organiza-
tions combined.
Let me tell you a little bit about the education section of the Drug Abuse
Prevention The new law and Control Act.
In authorizes grants and contracts by the Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare, first, for the collection, preparation and dissemination of educational
materials on drug use and abuse; and, second, for the development and evaluation
of programs of drug abuse education directed at the general public, school-age
children, and special high-risk groups.
In addition to these responsibilities, the HEW Secretary will train persons
to organize and participate in programs of public drug abuse education; coordinate
Federal efforts in drug abuse education; and provide technical assistance to the
States and local communities regarding drug abuse education programs.
this is the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, a most
significant piece of legislation. It brings together the various laws affecting
drugs, codifies and consolidates them. It makes enforcement more uniform and the
handling of offenders more flexible and therefore more effective.
Some say enforcement has been weakened. Others say just the opposite.
The thrust behind the changes is to permit more discretion in the handling
of first offenders while bearing down hard upon the pusher and the peddler. Let
me point out that most law enforcement people believe the harsh mandatory sentences
in the existing nareoties law have been a hindrance rather than an aid to enforce
ment.
All of the penalties are doubled for second offenses.
Stat
I do not think the $403 million authorized for the three year program
encompassed by the bill is too much. Drug abuse is already costing us far more in
actual dollars than the amount provided in the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control
Act of 1970.
There
- price which can be set upon the misery which comes to families
(more)
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-5-
and to individuals caught up in this horrible net of drug addiction and its
Stef
inevitable consequences.
But & price can be set upon the enormous increases in organized crime and
SHIT
street crime tied in with the sharp rise in drug addiction in the United States
and it far exceeds the cost of drug abuse control. It is generally recognized that
drug abuse is the primary cause of the tremendous increase in street crime in the
last decade
No piece of legislation can guarantee to lick the drug problem in this
country. That is a job which calls for every kind of recruit. Every echelon of
government, every public and private organization must commit its resources and
energy to the task. If that happens, I think we can meet the challenge.
# # #
QERALD FORD LIBRARY