Task Force report: narcotics and drug abuse

The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice created an advisory committee on narcotic and drug abuse in 1963 to develop a program of action. The Commission's report looks at drugs and their regulation (opiates, cocaine, marijuana, stimulants, and hallucinogens), drug law enforcement, characteristics of drug users and abusers, and the need to strengthen law enforcement. Specifically, the Commission recommends that enforcement and related staff of the Bureau of Customs be materially increased, that enforcement staff of the Bureau of Narcotics also be increased, and that States adopt a model drug abuse control act similar to the Federal Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965. In addition, the Commission recommends that recordkeeping provisions of the 1965 amendments be changed to require that records be segregated or kept in a manner that enables them to be promptly identified and inspected. The Commission's report discusses penalties, treatment programs, civil commitment, medical practice and addiction, and education. Individual papers incorporated as appendixes focus on mind-altering drugs and dangerous behavior, legislation for dangerous drugs, drug addiction treatment, civil commitment of drug addicts, and sentencing for drug offenses.