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TEMPLE OF MAN, INC.
15A Avenue 54
Venice, California

In our "OPEN LETTER TO ALL MEN OF CONSCIENCE", regarding the problem of drug addiction, we stated that the profit should be removed from the sale of narcotics, that the illicit traffic in narcotics be crushed, and that the addict in addition to receiving medical treatment, should be able to find legal recourse for his habit through doctors or medical agencies. 

However, an additional important consideration, that of timing, must be stressed in any narcotics control plan.  If joint United States-Mexican police action were to eradicate the drug supply at its source or the United States-Mexican border were to be closed as a final step, it would seem obvious that another concurrent policy should simultaneously be embraced -- that of making narcotic drugs legally available through authorized agencies until medical treatment is available for already existing addicts.  If this is not done, the addict, finding himself without a source to supply his needs, will, in many cases, resort to acts of violence in order to obtain drugs from doctors, pharmacies and hospitals.

In order to protect the addict from possible criminal acts that might prevent his rehabilitation, and also to protect the doctor and pharmacist from acts of violence, we urge that the proper steps be taken.

An effective narcotics control plan CANNOT be unnecessarily cruel.  This human problem can only by successfully dealt with humanely.

For the Temple of Man, sincerely and in peace,

Robert Alexander, Director
Zack Walsh, Secretary
Charles Brittin, Treasurer