In the spring of 1971, two members of Congress (John Murphy and Robert Steele) released an alarming report alleging that 15 percent of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam were addicted to HEROIN. The armed forces were attempting to cope with the drug problem by combining military discipline with "amnesty." Anyone found using or possessing illicit drugs was subject to court martial and dishonorable discharge from the service; but drug users who voluntarily sought help might be offered "amnesty" and brief treatment. This policy apparently was having little impact, since heroin use had increased dramatically over the preceding year and a half.

Because the United States was trying to negotiate settlement of the war, military forces in Vietnam were being rapidly reduced. About 1,000 men were being sent back to the United States each day, many of them to be discharged shortly thereafter to civilian life...