SPARKS OR SPUTTERS?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200300056-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2004
• Sequence Number: 56
• Publication Date: August 21, 1972
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

NE1' EK _ , .
91 AUG. ? 1977 { C ( s k' . 4 e o r:
Approved For Release 04/10/13 : IA-RDP88-01350R000200
Sparks or Sputters?
A Washington drawing room was the
scene last year of an unlikely encounter
between poet Allen Ginsberg and Rich-
ard Helms, director of the Central Intel-
ligence Agency. The subject of the post-
poetry-reading confrontation was opium
and Ginsberg insisted that the CIA. was
C/ deeply involved in shipping it around
Southeast Asia. So totally false did
IIelnns consider the accusation that he
agreed to -a fascinating bet with the
poet: Helms promised that be would sit
down for an hour of meditation each day
for the rest of his life if the charges were
proved correct.
The. same accusations-true or not-
boiled again last week. This time, the
McCoy interviewing Laotians,
and his provo'c'ative hook
ett
CIA, which almost never takes a puoue l)UVU3a, L..., --- --
stand on any issue, clashed with the re- sible, and that is what we intend to do.'
spected publishing firm of Harper & Privately, the Harper:. & Row lawyer
ere undertivhelmed
"
W
e w
, /Row. At issue is a book-"Tlie Politics of commented,
.V . Heroin in Southeast Asia"-in which au- by their criticism."
thor Alfred W. McCoy presents a heavi- Why did the CIA-usually the most
ly documented argument that the CIA silent of government' .agencies-take on
has assisted in the flow of opium and its Harper & Row so publicly? One agency
by-product, heroin. The CIA challenged insider observed- that McCoy's charges
the book before publication, and H:npcr had been made before-mostly in under-
& Row reluctantly allowed the agency ground or fringe publications. "But what
despite ?a I think has got the ? backs up around
l peruse the galleys. by the CIA, here," he suggested, "is that the charges '.Harper. & Row announced that it was are now showing up in Ilarper's maga-
list of objections specified y
satisfied that the book was sound and zinc and in a Harper '& Row book. That
would publish it this week-a month is hitting where these people live," he
ahead of schedule. said, gesturing around hini'at CIA head-
McCoy, ' a 26-year-old Yale graduate quarters. "These are people with vast
student, first made his accusations during contacts in the academic community and
Congressional testimony in June. McCoy government. They can't lot this ridicu-
charged that because drug traffic is such lou's falsehood be accepted as fact."
a local custom in Asia-and U.S. allies, McCoy is content to let readers make
Approved For Release 2004/10/13 :CIA-RDP88-01350R000200300056-0
from guerrillas to government officials, up their own minds. "I had hoped that.
are so deeply involved-the CIA not oiilyvmy work would be interesting enough to
- W., 1 1 to " he sa s ` Now
a
even helps them transport opium and
heroin. Soon afterward, the CIA's gener-
al counsel, Lawrence Houston, wrote to
Harper & Rowv: "We believe we cannot
stand by and see baseless, criticism ...
without trying to set the record straight
After considerable deliberation, Hai--
per & Row sent the agency a set of gal-
leys. Seven days later, the CIA weighed
'tl - Ion Ythy critique-which Harper
n
, y.
spas K a pu rc c e n
the CIA, by attempting to suppress the
book, has itself sparked the debate." Still,
there is no indication that CIA director
Helms has been convinced by the book's,
charges; he has not disclosed any plans
to begin daily.meditations.
111
& Row editors judged rather light. B.d/ ?tl t ~_ ,
Brooks Thomas, vice president and gen- C_ kA U_ 0 t
oral counsel of the publishing house, then
replied to' Houston: "We believe the
best service we can render the author;
the CIA and the general public is.. to
0 L( ;to Y4 J Leu:; r,