Letter to the Chairman in Response to the Interim Report of the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse.
[ Released April 4, 1963. Dated April 3, 1963 ]
Dear Judge Prettyman:
I have received your interim report and wish to thank you and the other members of the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse for the obvious time and effort that have gone into preparing the report. This report deserves to be read, discussed and considered by those interested in our nation's drug and narcotic problems--it begins to open the door to understanding about users of narcotics and abusers of the law and suggests forcefully the dangers which confront the American people in this difficult area.
The recommendations put forward by the Commission will be studied carefully by those departments and agencies of the Federal government charged with the health and legal protection of our citizens. Special attention should be given to those recommendations which can be translated into action programs designed to provide practical, workable solutions to the many aspects of narcotic and drug abuse. You may be sure that the various agencies of the Federal government will cooperate fully in giving needed assistance in the preparation of your final report--a report which I look forward to with great interest.
Sincerely,
JOHN F. KENNEDY
[Honorable E. Barrett Prettyman, Chairman, President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse]
Note: The interim report, dated April 1, 1963 (34 pp., processed), and the Chairman's letter of transmittal were released with the President's reply. A 2-page summary lists seven recommendations for legislative or administrative action. The final report, dated November 1963, was released on January 25, 1964.
The President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse was established January 1963, by Executive Order 11076 (28 F.R. 4771 3 CFR, 1963 Supp.) to continue the work begun by the first White House Conference on Narcotic and Drug Abuse. The Conference was held in Washington September 27-28, 1962 (see 1962 volume, this series, Item 411). The Proceedings of the White House Conference were released on March 26, 1963 (Government Printing Office, 330 pp.).
John F. Kennedy, Letter to the Chairman in Response to the Interim Report of the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237134