§ 24–713. Care and treatment of drug users; authority of Surgeon General.

(a) The Surgeon General is authorized to provide for the confinement, care, protection, treatment, and discipline of persons addicted to the use of habit-forming narcotic drugs who are civilly committed to treatment under the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, addicts who voluntarily submit themselves for treatment, and addicts and other persons with drug abuse and drug dependence problems convicted of offenses against the United States and who are not sentenced to treatment under the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, including persons convicted by general courts-martial and consular courts. Such care and treatment shall be provided at hospitals of the Public Health Service especially equipped for the accommodation of such patients or elsewhere where authorized under other provisions of law, and shall be designed to rehabilitate such persons, to restore them to health, and, where necessary, to train them to be self-supporting and self-reliant; but nothing in this section or in §§ 257 [repealed] to 261a [repealed] of Title 42, United States Code, shall be construed to limit the authority of the Surgeon General under other provisions of law to provide for the conditional release of patients and for aftercare under supervision. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall establish in each hospital and other appropriate medical facility of the Service a treatment and rehabilitation program for drug addicts and other persons with drug abuse and drug dependence problems who are in the area served by such hospital or other facility; except that the requirement of this sentence shall not apply in the case of any such hospital or other facility with respect to which the Secretary determines that there is not sufficient need for such a program in such hospital or other facility.

(b) Upon the admittance to, and departure from, a hospital of the Service of a person who voluntarily submitted himself for treatment pursuant to the provisions of this section, and who at the time of his admittance to such hospital was a resident of the District of Columbia, the Surgeon General shall furnish to the Mayor of the District of Columbia or his designated agent, the name, address, and such other pertinent information as may be useful in the rehabilitation to society of such person.

(c) The Secretary may enter into agreements with the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and the head of any other department or agency of the government under which agreements hospitals and other appropriate medical facilities of the Service may be used in treatment and rehabilitation programs provided by such department or agency for drug addicts and other persons with drug abuse and other drug dependence problems who are in areas served by such hospitals or other facilities.

(July 1, 1944, 58 Stat. 698, ch. 373, title III, § 341; May 8, 1954, 68 Stat. 80, ch. 195, § 3; July 24, 1956, 70 Stat. 622, ch. 676, title III, § 302(a); Nov. 8, 1966, 80 Stat. 1449, Pub. L. 89-793, title VI, § 601; Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1240, Pub. L. 91-513, title I, § 2(a)(1); Mar. 21, 1972, 86 Stat. 77, Pub. L. 92-255, § 402; Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2031, Pub. L. 98-473, § 232(a).)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 24-613.

1973 Ed., § 24-613.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 24-715.

Transfer of Functions

All functions of Public Health Service, of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, and of all other officers and employees of the Public Health Service, and all functions of all agencies of or in the Public Health Service were transferred to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by 1966 Reorganization Plan No. 3, 80 Stat. 1610. The functions of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare were transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services by the Act of October 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695, Pub. L. 96-88, § 509.

References in Text

The Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, referred to in subsection (a) of this section, is codified in 18 U.S.C. §§ 4251 to 4255, 28 U.S.C.§§ 2901 to 2906, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 3411 to 3426, 3441.

18 U.S.C. §§ 4251 to 4255 were repealed by Pub. L. 98-473, title II, § 218(a)(6), 98 Stat. 2027 effective November 1, 1987 except that the sections remain applicable for five years to individuals who committed offense or acts prior to November 1, 1987.

Change in Government

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.