Addicted Viet Nam Veterans: A Comparison of Self-Referred and System-Referred Samples
EDGAR P. NACE M.D.1,
ANDREW L. MEYERS , , and
JOSEPH M. ROTHBERG PH.D
1 Director, Alcoholic Treatment Program, Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 111 West 49th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19139, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania
The authors report that addicts who volunteered for an Army heroin treatment program differed from those who were detected by urine screening in that they had displayed a greater degree of antisocial behavior in civilian life and had more frequent psychiatric contacts in the service as well as a more extensive history of drug use. The finding that drug use is less frequent during the earliest months of military training than during both the preceding civilian months and the later phases of military duty suggests that recognition and intervention during the early months of military training may be the chief means of primary prevention.
