INTRODUCTION
The use of heroin in the United States has reached epidemic propor- tions. (For background see Appendix A, p. 65.)
Until mid-1971, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) estimated that 80 percent of the heroin entering the United States originated in the poppy fields of Turkey.
On June 30, 1971, the Government of Turkey announced that it would stop growing poppies after 1972. In return, the United States agreed to furnish $35 million in financial assistance to help alleviate economic difficulties resulting from the ban on opium production.
As a result of the decision by Turkey to stop growing poppies there is concern in the United States that the countries of Southeast Asia will replace Turkey as the major source of supply for heroin in the United States. For if the decision by the Government of Turkey to discontinue opium production eliminates that country as a source of opium, the international and domestic U.S. drug peddlers will turn to other areas of the world for heroin, particularly Southeast Asia.
There are those who argue that much more heroin already enters the United States each year from Southeast Asia than the 5 to 10 percent estimated by Nelson Gross, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Narcotics Matters. For example, a recent report by the Strategic Intelligence Office of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs stated, "More of the heroin reaching the United States is from this area than conventional knowledge has recognized."
A senior official of the Bureau said "Southeast Asia is playing a more important role and more heroin is coming from that part of the world. The exact amount cannot be ascertained because the chemists are unable to determine beyond a reasonable doubt where heroin originates. Therefore, it is not possible to determine how much Southeast Asian heroin is entering the United States."
While the percentage of Southeast Asian heroin entering the United States cannot be determined with any accuracy or certainty, there is no doubt that that area can and does produce more than enough opium to replace Turkey as the major supplier to the illegal market in the United States.
It is estimated that three countries, Burma, Laos, and Thailand. produce about 700 tons of opium per year. This amount of opium will yield 70 tons of heroin which is many times the estimated 10 to 12 tons required to sustain the heroin population of the United States.
Before 1970 the bulk of Southeast Asia's opium was consumed by Asians, mostly in the form of opium or as No. 3 purple smoking heroin. A small amount, less than 10 tons of opium equivalent, was sold to non-Asians in the form of high quality injectable heroin (No. 4 heroin).
This pattern began to change in 1970 when 90 to 98 percent pure No. 4 white heroin began to appear in South Vietnam. By spring of 1971 the widespread use of No. 4 heroin by U.S. troops in Vietnam had reached alarming proportions. It was in great supply, it was readily available and the market was profitable.
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