Heroin in Vietnam: The True Story of the Robins Study

Editor's note: The famous Robins study on heroin use among Vietnam veterans has been sooften —and so recently—misinterpreted that I felt motivated to reprint an older post on the subject.[Originally posted 7/24/10]In 1971, under the direction of Dr. Jerome Jaffe of the Special Action Office on Drug Abuse Prevention, Dr. Lee Robins of Washington University in St. Louis undertook an investigation of heroin use among young American servicemen in Vietnam. Nothing about addiction research would ever be quite the same after the Robins study. The results of the Robins investigation turned the official story of heroin completely upside down.The dirty secret that Robins laid bare was that a staggering number of Vietnam veterans were returning to the U.S. addicted to heroin and morphine. Sources were already reporting a huge trade in opium throughout the U.S. military in Southeast Asia, but it was all mostly rumor until Dr. Robins surveyed a representative sample of enlisted Army men who had left Vietnam in September of 1971 —the date at which the U.S. Army began a policy of urine screening. The Robins team interviewed veterans within a year after their return, and again two years later.After she had worked up the interviews, Dr. Robins, who died in 2009, found that almost half —45 per cent—had used either opium or heroin at least once during their tour of duty. 11 per cent had tested positive for opiates on the way out of Vietnam. Overall, about 20 per cent re...
Source: Addiction Inbox - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: blogs