Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Letter to Heads of Departments Constituting the Interdepartmental Committee on Narcotics.

November 27, 1954

Dear___________:

It is gratifying to know that your representatives have been meeting with representatives of the other Departments concerned with the problem and with my Special Counsel as an informal committee to review and coordinate the Federal Government's programs to combat narcotic addiction in this country.

In order to define more clearly the scope of the problems which we face and to promote effective cooperation among Federal, State and local agencies, a comprehensive up-to-date survey on the extent of narcotic addiction is urgently needed and should be made by the Committee. A determination of what the States and local agencies have accomplished and what they are equipped to do in the field of law enforcement and in the rehabilitation of the victims of the scourge should also be included in the survey. In this, I know, the Committee will have the enthusiastic cooperation of State and local authorities.

Receipt of the Committee's report on both subjects as promptly as possible will expedite systematic review and improvement of our narcotics programs--local, national and international. I know that devoted and strenuous attention is being given to the problem on a number of fronts; but we should omit no practical step to minimize and stamp out narcotic addiction.

Sincerely,

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Note: Identical letters were sent to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Committee's report was transmitted to the President on February 1, 1956. (See Public Papers of the presidents, 1956, p. 226.)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Letter to Heads of Departments Constituting the Interdepartmental Committee on Narcotics. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233386

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