Puke

Hygienic Laboratory *
Washington, D.C.
Osteber 22,4924,

Doe tor Rupert Rie |,
Assistant Surgeon General
U,S.°ublic Health Service
Penneylyanie Terminal Building
Wew York, N.Y.

Dear Doctor Blue:

I am inclosing you a copy of a letter which Mr.Hobson
has sent out to various persons. Possibly you already —
have one but I thought you would surely like to see this

so I am taxing no chances in order that you may be informed.
You will observe the letter is devoted chiefly to an

attack on me. There ave several ‘things in it that deserve’
special attention. 3

For instance, he says that in our article we have
not taken care of smuggled opium. The facts are on pages
15,16 and 18 of the article the possibilities of smuggled
opiom are fully di seussed.

Hobsou ‘quotes a so-called Sasnsakasette survey which
he says revealed 1.6 per cent of the sopulation addicted,
Below you will find a quotation from the report of this
 @ommittee. This quotation is all they have to say about
the prevalence of drug addiction. They made no count whatever s

"Statements end estimates now made by
experts as to the number of drug addicts

in this sountry vary from one to two :
million. On this basis it may be reason- ;
ably assumed that there are sixty thousand —
drug addicts in this state.”

You will see that this is a mere guess based on hewspap er
reports. The guess was aa de in 1917...
? Doetor Rupert Blue~2

cont Mr, Heb son ts quoting the Treasury Department
Survey which he aays we did mot properly quote, claims
thet in addition to the 237,000 dmg addicts that we refer -
to this survey cleims to have found 420,000 additional
aietns This shows how carefully he reais drug material
and how a wan who wants to find a thing will shut his
mind to real facts. The Treasury committee in addition to

the one tionnaire it sent to physicians sent a questionnaire

to health officers. A cert in vroportion of thease health
officers, I believe it was 26 per cent, found something
less than three thougint addicts in their respective
communities but one additional health officer, the health
officer of New York City, reported 103 ,000 ediicts. The
committee added this to the two thousand and some ofd
reported by the other health officers ami seid there were
106,000 addicts in the United States and on this basis

4f all of the health officers md reported there would have.
been 420,000 addicts in the country. This you will observe —
is not om addition bat an estimate of the same thing arrived —
at by different means. The reason we 412 not quote this
section of the Treasury report is that the New York estimate
wes merely a statenent. The first connt of drug addicts.
‘ever made in New York was mde in the following yer. It
revealed less than eight thousand. Also, Dector DuMexz, who
wae on this Treasury committee and did all of the work,
repudiates that section of the report. For your private
information, Doctor Dulez saw Doctor Copeland, who was then
the health of fic er of New York, after the estimate of
103,000 was mde. He says Copeland told him the reason
they put the fieure at 105,000 was that if they had said
15,000 no one would have paid ettention to it. You will

gee that no report mking any pretentions to a scientific —
analysis of the situation cold accept Copeland's estimate
as the basis for figures. Jobson, of course, does not

know al] about this but he chould xnow thet the 429, 000

was not an addition to the 237,000.

Mr.Hobson says in thie let ter that he ‘abe’ the
Pablic Health Service to cooperate with him and intimates
that he submitted his paper to the Service before submitting
it to Congress, This does mt jibe well with the fact that
when he saw m before the Senate committee he got up and
attacked my testimony before it was given, showing plainly
Doctor Rupert Blue-3

that information he had received fromthe Publ ‘ou Health
Service did not suit his purposes.

There age other nace uracies in this letter of
his rong T conld point out to you bat you will no doubt
gee CMe :

I hope you will have a pleasant voyelibe abroad.
very truly yours,

LE~1 tosrem e Kolb,
ine » | Surgeon. USPHS,