30
-
Wednesday, October 17, 1973
Another relates to the organisation, coordination and control of
the intensified effort we have in mind. The Executive Council has decided
that the controlling body should be the Action Committee against Narcotics,
and that its membership should be streamlined for this purpose. Its
Chairman will be Sir Albert Rodrigues. His experience, devotion and
authority in this field are unparalleled; he is clearly the man to preside.
The terms of reference of the Committee will be strengthened to make it the
sole channel of advice to the Government on all policy aspects of the drive
against narcotics and narcotic addiction, including the allocation of
resources to Government departments and voluntary agencies alike. The
Commissioner for Narcotics will be a member of the Committee and he and his
staff will form the Committee's executive arm, and provide it with the
administrative muscle it has lacked hitherto.
Most distinguished work has been done in the field of cure of
drug addiction by the Prisons Department, and by various voluntary agencies
subsidised by the Government, and in particular SARDA, the Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, and other agencies. Nevertheless, we feel that further progress
and greater coordination in this field is essential, and that it is the
responsibility of the Government to provide a sufficient pool of expertise
and authority to give a lead and to advies the Committee on how this work
can be recsed forward and coordinated.
It has therefore been decided to place responsibility for Drug Addiction Treatment and Research firmly on the Department of Medical and
Health Services, and that a new Division be formed in the Department for
/this purpose
P