Springville Herald | 1969-10-02 | Page 12 | Mental Health Matters

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS Stanley F. Yolles, M.D., Director National Institute of Mental Health A team of medical and scientific scien-tific authorities for WHO has been able, however, to develop some useful conclusions on drug dependence that help us to understand it. For one thing, the term, drug dependence, cannot be separated sepa-rated from whatever drug is in discussion. Dependence on amphetamines, am-phetamines, or pep pills, for example, relates to those compounds com-pounds and is different from dependence on cocaine which, in turn, is different from dependence de-pendence on heroin. But all narcotic or mind-affecting mind-affecting drugs have one effect in common. WHAT DOES DRUG DEPENDENCE MEAN? There are many forms of drug addiction. In fact, there re so many that it is impossible impossi-ble to have a single definition for all the various kinds. Narcotic drugs are a worldwide world-wide problem; and the United States and other Nations have set up international treaties for the control of these dangerous compounds. Here is where difficult deci7 sions arise as to the kind or degree of addiction that different differ-ent drugs cause. As the World Health Organi- " zation, which works on such problems, has found, there are so many kinds of narcotics and their effects vary so that a jcientifi lly sound, single standard stand-ard for drug addiction, satisfactory satis-factory for use around the world, could not be made.