DRUGS AND THE CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200300025-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 25
• Content Type: NEWSPAPER CLIPPING

THE SYDNEY AUSTRALIA MORNING HERALD
Approved For Release 2006/@9/ 9t: q~ DP88-01350ROO , -
received. r r-orn a sran curres punaen.c in i v ew i uric
publication of a chapter from
his then forthcoming book in
"Harper's Magazine" and simi-
lar accusations made by Mr
McCoy before a Congressional
hearing.
The allegations attracted
little national attention at that
stage.
But, in July, the CIA made a
formal request to the publish-
ers, Harper and Row, to review
the manuscript, stating that Mr
McCoy's claims were "totally
false and without foundation."
.Although affirming their be-
lief that Mr McCoy's "scholar-
ship is beyond reproach" and
refusing to promise to make
any changes in the text, Harper
and Row agreed to make the
manuscript available to the
CIA.
That decision caused con-
troversy in publishing circles
because of the precedent of al-
lowing the CIA to review a
book before publication.
However, Mr B. Brooks
Thomas, vice-president and
general counsel for the pub-
lishing house, explained: "We
are not submitting to censor-'
ship or anything like that. We
are taking a responsible middle
position."
When the CIA's critique of
the book was submitted at the
end of July, Mr McCoy and his
publishers regarded it as an
anti-climax.
Mr Thomas stated that the
publishers were "under-
whclmed" with the CIA's
reply. Harper and Row made
the CIA's defence and an-
nounced that they would pub-
lish the book unchanged.
American reviewers have
hailed the book as the first
work of near-scholarship on
the popular subject of heroin
smuggling.
While the book adopts a
New Left, anti-CIA and anti-
American foreign policy
stance, it is a fascinating his=
tory of the world's opium and
heroin trade.
Mr Colby flatly denies the
charge that the South-East
Asian opium trade in any way
"depends on the support
(money, guns, aircraft, etc) of
the CIA," as claimed by Mr
McCoy.
He said that the US Bureau
of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs had publicly stated that
the CIA for some time had
been its strongest partner in
identifying foreign sources and
illegal trade in narcotics.
The CIA, he said, had no
'evidence that General Vang
tian drug trade.
"Because his forces are the
principal Laotian deterrent to
North Vietnam aggression,
many US Government person-
nel have been in constant con-
tact with General Vang Pao
for ?a number of years," he
said. "No evidence has conic
to light connecting him with
narcotics traffic."
Mr Colby said that Air
America had long had an effec-
tive inspection system, and
recently had introduced a more
rigid system to bar even the
inadvertent transport of nar-
cotics.
Mr McCoy, in his determina-
tion to indict the Nixon Ad-
ministration and the CIA, fails
to give credit for strenuous
efforts the American Govern-
ment has made in recent times
to combat the narcotics trade.
James A. Markham, a writer
on the drug problem for "The
New York Times," says that,
in certain parts of the world,
"American diplomats give
almost monomaniacal attention
to persuading frequently in-
different or corrupt officials to
do something about poppy cul-
tivation, heroin refining and
heroin trafficking."
Mr Nelson G. Gross, senior
adviser on international nar-
cotics ? to the US Department
of State, said recently that the
intensive drive mounted by the
Government over the past
year-and-a-half was beginning
to have a noticeable impact on
the trade.
"The availability of heroin
on the streets is less than it was
a year ago. The quality is not
as good. The wholesale price
is higher and the retail price is
higher," he said.
The Government, he said,
was moving fast to prevent a
major new route of drug
traffic developing from South-
East Asia.
With the US Secretary of
State, Mr William P. Rogers,
he had met Chairman Ne Win
of Burma to explore means of
helping the Burmese Govern-
ment combat heroin processing
and transport.
The frightening extent of
heroin addiction in American
cities and the street crime it
spawns make drug traffic an
emotional subject in this
country.
If Mr McCoy's book helps
step up the campaign against
drug trafficking it will serve
a good purpose.
But the campaign will not
be helped by his politically
motivated and exaggerated
accusations.
Approved For Release 2006/09/29: CIA-RDP88-0135OR006200300025-4