Mr. BETTS. Do you think it is worth trying in this area to see if they will work any better? Mr. REISMAN. Yes, I think it certainly is worth trying. I have some reluctance to endorse, without seeing the details of the types of crimes that would be included, a mandatory arbitrary, for example, 25 years, because caught in that area can be some persons who should not be so treated. For example, we have the problem in your narcotics field where we have mandatory aspects of sales, traffic in narcotics, and clearly most of those people should go to jail for life, but every so often you run across a case where a man has been helpful, where he has cooperated with law enforcement, and there is very little you can do to extend a degree of assistance to him. Certainly mandatory sentences would help, but I just suggest that there is a limitation on the effectiveness of the deterrent impact of long sentences. Mr. BETTS. Thank you. Mr. KING. Mr. Thompson. Mr. THOMPSON. Commissioner, in your discussions with Mr. Battin you said that in Montana they might have very different problems from what you have in New York. Incidentally, my State is Texas. We in Texas have a very different problem of course. This is not to ask you a question, but merely to give you the observation that this committee's difficulty is writing a law that would be helpful to you and yet not be obstructive to the sportsmen down in Texas. Mr. REISMAN. Of course. I was asked really to appear here and give you our views and description of our laws, and certainly those of us in New York who have seen the rest of the world and the rest of the country are not so narrow as to believe that New York's problems are the world's or the country's problems. We have our own problems and certainly we are not trying to impose our thoughts on you. On the other hand, we suggest at times that those individuals who live in Texas and in Montana realize that the problems in New York City are not the rural housewife and the prowler, but other types of problems. Mr. THOMPSON. Yes. Mr. Chairman, may I just observe that I have gotten a lot out of your testimony, Mr. Commissioner. It has been very helpful to me and I am sure it has to my colleagues. Mr. REISMAN. Thank you. Mr. KING. Any further questions? Thank you again. Mr. KING. Mr. Battin. Mr. BATTIN. Mr. Chairman, before we go to the next witness, the other day when Mr. James V. Bennett was testifying before the committee, I had a colloquy with him concerning the comparison of a Federal law and the proposed gun law. I indicated that information that I had showed that there had been an increase in the use of narcotics in recents years in spite of the Federal law on narcotics. Mr. Bennett said to me in response and I quote: Congressman, I don't know where you get those statistics, but there is alleged now to be about 45,000 know drug addicts in this country. These are the statistics of the Bureau of Narcotics that is a very considerable reduction from what it was, say, 20 years ago, far, far less than the days when the Harrison Act was first enacted. Based on that I wrote a letter to the Treasury Department, Bureau of Narcotics, dated July 21, 1965. I received a response today, dated July 22, in which the Acting Commissioner furnished me with charts, and diagrams, and figures as to the narcotic traffic by years. One chart here from 1953 to 1964 shows an increase in the new addicts. It goes I think completely contrary to what Mr. Bennett had put in the record prior to the time I received these charts and I would ask at this point unanimous consent that the charts furnished me by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics be included in the record at this point. Mr. KING. Without objection. (The information referred to follows:) TABLE 5.-Active narcotic addicts in the United States as of Dec. 31, 1963, and Dec. 31, 1964, by State TABLE 6.-New narcotic addicts reported during calendar years 1963–64, by State Mr. KING. Mr. Glassen, Mr. Foote, and Mr. Arnold. Good morning, gentlemen. Will you identify yourselves for the record and then proceed as you wish. STATEMENT OF HAROLD W. GLASSEN, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH, GAME, AND CONSERVATION COMMISSIONERS, AND MICHIGAN UNITED CONSERVATION CLUBS; ACCOMPANIED BY FRANK FOOTE, NEBRASKA GAME, FORESTATION, AND PARKS COMMISSION; AND DAVID ARNOLD, MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION, AND THE ASSOCIATION OF MIDWEST FISH, GAME, AND CONSERVATION COMMISSIONERS Mr. GLASSEN. Gentlemen, I am Harold Glassen, Lansing, Mich. I am the designated spokesman for the International Association of Fish, Game, and Conservation Commissioners and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs. |