Salvation Army: Approach to the Narcotics Problem

This episode introduces the Salvation Army's approach to the narcotics problem. Guests include Brigadier Dorothy Barry, a narcotics consultant, Major Mary Davis, Director of the Women's Correctional Bureau, and Brian Figueroa, Director of the Salvation Army Coffee House in Greenwich Village.

Has there been a change in addicts over the years? Yes, says Barry. Addicts seem to be getting younger and younger - school-age children, teenagers, and young married couples. Their backgrounds seem different, in that they come from better homes - more middle-class kids are ending up in the Army's treatment centers.

Barry talks about the narcotics anonymous organization, and her inability to track whether an addict relapses or not. She's not clear how successful her program has been.

Davis talks about her work in women's prisons.

Figueroa talks about his work at the coffee house and the popular drugs of the day like LSD and marijuana. The majority of young people come from middle-class and upper-middle-class homes. They leave home, grow their hair long, get into the drug scene, and join the hippie movement. Figueroa says that speed, LSD, and marijuana are the most popular drugs. There is a rather amusing discussion about the effects of LSD.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150789
Municipal archives id: T7419