Lessons on Heroin Abuse From Treating Users in Vietnam
Brian S. Joseph M.D.1
1 Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center Boston, Massachusetts
Two psychiatric workers and a chaplain established a voluntary, three-week, therapeutic community program for heroin users in their Vietnam unit, intended for users who were psychologically stable. The program was a failure, apparently partly because the more stable heroin users were able to work effectively and did not enter the program; those who did take part usually entered under pressure, such as threat of prosecution, and apparently had been significantly disturbed before becoming users. The author suggests the need to constaly re-evaluate widely held as sumptions about drug abuse.
