http://exhibits.library.stonybrook.edu/mfp/files/original/3ea0e4ad8e48a635dec2f4cbb22db759.pdf 10e69d8c307f89d374004fa9ba48512b PDF Text Text June 13, 1971 Dr. Jerome Jaffe Department of Psychiatry University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois Jerry, Dear The preliminary announcement of your appointment by the President to lead the national effort against drug abuse was most welcome here. I hope the appointment is made, and I wish you all success. The undertaking is a great one and I am confident the nation will follow your leadership willingly. Since the reports in the New York Times last month of the high rate of opiate use in our troops in Southeast Asia, I have become additionally concerned about this horrendous aspect of this tragic war. In considering the alternatives, I concluded that our clinical experience with the antagonists (much of it unpublished) warranted some suggestions which I shared with those authorities I could reach in Washington. I write new in the hope that our experience may complement and re-enforce your suggestions and recommendations. aware I consulting with the V.A. leaders in Washington, I became were being entertained to rapidly return large numbers thht pland of addicted servicemen to their home communities, particularly to the V.A. ceneters, for treatment programs focussed on methadone maintenance. Such a rapid dispersion of the addicted drug users would be a tragic error, for the V.A. centers are ill-equipped at present to care for these men, and the users would provide multiple foci for local drug use and experimentation as well as connections to enhance a drug traffic. Such a course, based on dispersion, is the worst possible solution, to homes for will return men who are unprepared for community it life, without jobs and with inadequate counselling, and encourage the Spread of addiction. Every effort should be made to identify, detoxify and treat in Asia, before they return home. One interesting suggestion is to return the men to the States in slow ships, thus providing at least 3—4 weeks of isolation, group therapy, counselling, and medication. the men �“I1!- new .. Fun-["W—r m .. rmm ,v-w-u—m m Jaffe Dr. Jerome ................ ...................June 13, 2 While I know every and traffic, educate the men, tests, we would encourage effort will be made to 1971 restrict the drug identify users by urine and nalorphine some specific applications of our esperience with the antagonists. It now seems possible to provide prophylactic programs, similar to the use of atabrine for malaria in an earlier war. Opiate sependence has many of the characteristics of a contagious disease, and I believe the daily administration of cyclazocine would serve the same purpose today. Surely, id drug use is as widespread at the Times has reported, then an eXperiment in a small segment of the 330,000 man army would be Iarranted. Your experience with cyclazocine led to widespread and in our early studies we confirmed your data. The effects were exaggerated by the dosage schedules we then used. Since January, 1970, we have inducted all our patients to 4 mg. cyclazocine in 4 days with minimal discomfort, surely no greater than our patients secondary effects, begin treatment with imipramine. For prophylaxis, 1—2 mg b.i.d.) should serve as an adequate deterrent. The administration of a tablet twice a day at mealtime should serve our purposes. experience who each day (0.5-1.0 mg - have also discharged 6 patients from all care after 1.5 to years on cyclazocine. These men remain drug-free, without 'craving' We 4 after 3-9 months on no medication. Such a limited experience is and not decisive, but sufficient to encourage further trials. Surely, some military patients could be randomly assigned to the antagonists, and were this experiment done carefully, an adequate sample could be provided in a very short time. The men would have similar histories of drug use, conditions of treatment and living, etc. to those assigned to other regimens. Such an experiment would interesting answer many questions not only for the military, but for the nation as well. , u... In our discussions, and in the press, you have repeatedly suggested that with the limited funds at your disposal in Illinois, methadone was the treatment of choice. I agreed then, and I agree today, that methadone provides the best answer for today. With the crisin in Viet-Nam and the availability of funds from the military, the V.A., and the P.H.S., surely the extensive clinical trials we discussed should be undertaken as a logical back~up to the other programs which you will encourage. For more than two years, I have supported and encoyraged studies of the antagonists. As a national leader, I know you will accept the repponsibility of leading the effort without the parochialism so sadly evinced during the past few years by all of us. I am delighted with your appointment, and I am encouraged that now I can again turn my attentions to my laboratory studies. expanded With all best wishes for your personal success, I remain, Most Max sincerely yours, Fink, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Correspondence Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Correspondence to: Jaffe, Jerome H. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mfp-05-00-025-5-315 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <a title="Fink, Max, 1923-" href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79039548" target="_blank">Fink, Max, 1923-</a> Subject The topic of the resource Correspondence -- Correspondence Relation A related resource The Max Fink Collection Description An account of the resource Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a title="IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/" target="_blank">IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries. 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