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i I I 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Sept. 24, 1970 12'LOST’ COUNTIES Laurens County is one of the 12 so- called 12 “lost counties.” The 12 are “lost” in the sense that they do not qualify for federal funds which are available to most other South Carolina counties. Because of its geographical loca tion, Laurens County is among those counties which fall between the fed eral Appalachia District and the fed eral Coastal Plains District. Greenville County, one of the most prosperous counties in the two Carolinas, is in the Appalachia Dis trict and therefore qualfies for many federal assistance programs. Richland County wouldn’t be considered a “coastal” county—the ocean is over 100 miles away—but is is included in the federal Coastal Plains District. In between Richland and Greenville Counties is the federal “no-man’s land” and Laurens County is in the buffer zone. Exactly what this can mean was brought dramatically into focus last week in an interview with the mayor of Whitmire. WHITMIRE, which is in Newber ry County (one of the “lost 12”), dumps untreated waste into local streams. Officials of Whitmire real ize something should be done about it and they’re willing to take action but the town can’t financially afford to undertake the necessary projects. The town would have to have fi nancial assistance but federal funds for construction of a sewage treatment system are not available because Whit mire is not included in a federal re gional development program. Funds for such projects are available to mu nicipalities in most other South Caro lina counties but Whitmire is on the wrong side of the lines which were drawn in Washington. Whitmire Mayor Robert L. Raker said $800,000 is needed to finance the construction of a treatment facility. He said, “Greenville, which comes under tfye Appalachia District, could get about 80 per cent matching funds from the federal government” for the project, while Whitmire qualifies only for a 33 to 50 per cent federal grant. BEING in one of the “Lost 12”. we are losing educational assistance as well as money for municipalities. Union County, also among the “lost 12” has received $400,000 in fed eral assistance toward construction of a vocational high school. Its adjoining county, Cherokee, is in the Appalachia area. Cherokee also built a vocational high school, basically the same as Un ion’s. Cherokee County got $800,000 in federal assistance toward construc tion of its school. The need in Chero kee undoubtedly was no greater than the need in Union County but Chero kee is on the bright” side of the line and Union is on the "wrong” side. There are so many federal pro grams, districts and distinctions that it’s difficult to keep them straight. Laurens County is a member of the Upper Savannah Development Dis trict but that does not qualify the county or its municipalities for special assistance. The Upper Savannah De velopment District is primarily a clearing house for federal projects. The staff of the district assists its member counties and municipalities in planning and applying for assistance. Appalachia and the Coastal Plains Re gion actually are “poverty” area des ignations, qualifying those areas for special federal programs. WE OFTEN bemoan the way the federal government spends taxpayers’ money and the encroachment of the federal government into local affairs. However, those battles have been fought, the results are in and the in equities of the present situation are painfully obvious. State Sen. Robert Lake, who repre sents a senatorial district including Laurens, Union and Newberry coun ties (all among the “lost 12”) propos es that the 12 “lost counties” in South Carolina be included with counties in a similar dn unistam e in North Carolina and Georgia so they can qualify for programs now available to many other southern counties. Sen. Lake’s pro posal deserves local support. We would like to see our municipal officials give the proposal their support. It also de serves the support and encouragement of local citizens WHITTEN VILLAGE Last week marked a milestone in the history of Whitten Village. It was the 50th anniversary of South Carolina’s oldest and largest institu tion for the mentally retarded. Among those enjoying the anni versary luncheon was Dr. B. 0. Whit ten, 84. the first superintendent of of Whitten Village. Dr. Whitten guid ed the institution’s progress for 15 years—from the day the institution opened on Sept. 14, 1920, until he re tired in August. 1965. Dr. Whitten then turned the reins over to Dr. Roy B. Suber who has capably guided Whitten Village through a period of growth and expansion involving mil lions of dollars. Clintonians often may not fully comprehend how much Whitten Vil lage means to this area. They could have gotten an idea of its impact on the area if they could have seen Whit ten Village’s 1,100 employees at the anniversary luncheon. These are 1,100 local people gainfully employed in jobs ranging up to highly trained medical specialists There are 2,758 people in the resi- G3 srvc*-i iJ-'-rr; i if eview ATLAS Drug Addicts In S. C. Pay High Price To Keep Going dent population of Whitten Village. After training at Whitten Village, some of these pepole move into Clin ton community life and perform self sustaining work. The residents of The Village at tract others to our community. There are thousands of visitors who have come to know Clinton because of Whit ten Village. Many fine people have moved to Clinton so they can be near relatives who live at Whitten Village. But Whitten Village is more than a dollars-and-cents contributor to the well-being of the Clinton area. Talk to people who work there. Talk to people who do volunteer services at Whitten Village. They show they have received a special inner satisfaction from being associated with the resi dents of Whitten Village. They are associated with happiness and warmth and determined spirits and it’s contagi ous. True, there are problems but, considering the over-all atmosphere, they are minor. Happy anniversary. Whitten Vil lage, and thank you from the people of Clinton and the entire state of South Carolina. Many hard drug addicts in South Carolina pay fifty to sev enty-five dollars a day for the heroin or morphine to keep themselves going, says the State Boardof Health. The cough syrup, stimulant and depressant addicts steal the drugs, forge prescriptions, or buy them from “pushers.* This third and last article on drug addiction in S.C. answers questions about the sickest and most pitiful of all, the hard narcotics -users. For copies of all three articles write:Health Information. State Board of Health, Columbia, S.C. 29201. 1. Just what is a hard nar cotics addict? A man or woman who cannot function without daily doses of the products uf opium such as heroin, morphine, or codeine. Addicts nearly always gefttese drugs illegally. 2. How many hard core ad dicts are there in South Caro lina? The Narcotics Division ofthe State Board of Health estimates that there are no more than 100. Thirty-eight arrests were made for the possession or sale of hard narcotics last year. Therefore, the situation is far less dangerous than some news media would have you believe. 3. Where do these addicts get their heroin, etc,? Usually from other addicts who are selling it to support their own addiction. They buy illegal drugs smuggled from out of the State. Often the“pushers M dilute pure heroin with milk, sugar and quinine until it is only one per cent in solution. This is the product they sell; it is so weak that it will sustain an addict for only a few hours. 4. How does the number of hard addicts in S.C. compare with that of other states? The 100 in South Carolina give our State one of the low est ratios of hard narcotic ad dicts of any state. 5. What is a cough syrup addict? A person who drinks large amounts of codein-based cough syrup to get the narcotic effects it can give. Since State law al lows no drug store to sell him more than one 4 oz. bottle, he must steal or use false pres criptions to get all he needs. Another type of addict is the one who buys paregoric , one ounce at each drug store, until he has three or four ounces. He chills the syrup in a refrig- no SOVEREIGN » STATE of AFFAIRS •••*••••• erator until the camphor floats to the top, skims it off, then boils the remainder down to a thick gummy mass— pure opium. This, mixed with water, injected into his arm will last him for several hours. Then he must prepare more. 6. Are there many of these cough syrup and paregoric ad dicts in S.C.? The Narcotics Division esti mates that there .ire atvmt 150. 7. What are stimulants and depressants? Are they danger ous drues? Stimulants are mainly chemi cal agents known as ampheta mines which speed up the ner vous system. Addicts call them “Bennies*, “Speckled Birds,* etc. Depressants are basically the sedative drugs, mainly bar- pftur^fes^.They depress the central nervous sustem, and in large doses bring intoxication, deep sleep, and sometimes, death. Both can be very habit forming and lead to nervous breakdowns, malnutrition, and more dangerous drug addiction. 8. How many addicts of these drugs are there in the State? Dr. Thomas I). Wyatt, chief drug inspector for the State Board of Health, saysthatthere are hundreds of people who take them secretly. Sixty-three were arrested for selling or having them in possession last year. 9. Where do people buy them illegally? One truck stop operator was caught last year with over 80,- 000 capsules at his place of business. A waitress in a *honky tonk" cafe w-as arrested for sel ling them out of a glass vial in her brassiere. These drugs are sold in many such places and are usually stolen first. 10. What happens to drug ad dicts when they are arrested? They are tried in General Sessions Court. Some receive suspended sentences; others are sentenced to prison. Many hard narcotic addicts are re leased on the condition that they will seek treatment. 1. What happens to those who get treatment? They are usually sent to the U.s. Public Health Service Hos pital in Lexington, Kentucky, where they are gradually taken off the drugs and given other therapy. A total stay of about four and a half months. 12. Is Methadone the best drug to help these addicts *get clean?* Methadone is being used by many doctors and clinics today. But the director of the Federal Burwau of Narcotics and Dan gerous Drugs says:"Exper ience with Methadone is quite recent. It has yet to be de termined when patients in si '• programs can be withdrawn and returned to society as cured individuals. Thus far , this has not been accomplished in any statistically significant num bers.* 13. Is there a hospital in South Carolina where these people can be treated? None at the present time, but the State Legislature has provided funds for one which will be built in Columbia next year. 14. Of the patients who have gone away for the cure and then returned to South Carolina, how many have stayed nffnarcotics? Only five out of every one hundred. 15. Why such a low rate? There are two major reasons. As a rule narcotic addicts are not strong willed people to be gin with, and can easily fall in to the habit aeain. Also they need a great deal of help in return ing to normal society: counsel ing, psychiatry, therapy,etc.At the present time there is no place in the State that offers this, but the new institute most probably will. “American” Gems Two gems have American names: Danburite. named after Danbury, Conn., where it was first found; and ben- itoite. named after San Benito County. Calif. By Lennart Pearson Head Librarian Presbyterian College ATLAS; BEST FROM THE WORLD’S PRESS. A monthly magazine. $10.00 per year. A European politician recently suggested that a representative from his government should be seated in the U.S. Congress so as to give his nation an opportunity to shape its future. It’s sometimes hard to realize that not ev eryone looks at this shrinking world .’through American eves, or that accounts of world affairs which come to us through American newspapers, wire services, and TV shows do not necessarily reflect the views of those to whom things are actually happening. One way of getting a different slant on world affairs is to read what is written in the foreign press. The library subscribes to several such papers, including the lyondon (Sunday) Times, the Manchester (England) Guardian, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. For those who know German, there is also Die Zeit, a Hamburg week ly which resembles our own National Observer, and Der Spiegel, a publication similar to TIME. French readers will enjoy Paris Match and L’Ex- press (similar to l.ook and Life), while Hoy looks at things from Mexico City, and Americas (avail able in both English and Spanish), represents the viewpoint of the Organization of American States. Soviet Life is a glossy, colorful magazine in English, but heavy on the propaganda. One particularly useful magazine, however especially for those most comfortable with Eng lish is Atlas, whose editors have taken on the task of cullimr what they regard as “the best from the world’s press.” Their choices are pre sented in a lively format that looks like a cross between U. S. News and World Report and Sat urday Review. A typical issue will include comment from magazines and newspapers in Paris, Warsaw. Melbourne. Moscow, Tel Aviv. Peking, and Bue nos Aires. Subjects discussed have wide variety: current political crises, trends in education, pros pects for business. TV programs in various coun tries. sports, films, book reviews, religion art mass media—together with a generous lacing of cartoons and trivia from all over to remind us that not all of the news is of the kind that shake* the earth. Atlas is named for the mythological Titan who held up the heavens. Its own purpose is more modest. It aims at holding up the world to its readers, and to provide a wav for Americans to know a little hit better what the rest of the world is thinking, in words and ideas of their own choosing. Which is where we came in. Lie-Detector Tests For Candidates? Dear Mr. Publisher. There’s a lota division and fighting in "ur country right now. Government nffidals are pleading with us to come to gether and unite. I reckon that’s the same thing as harmony. The Good Book says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand* - so 1 reckon we bet ter get straightened <>ut before we fall. The only trouble is how does the government expect us to come together and get rid of division, when the government is divided. The congress fights the President, the President fights the congress and the Supreme court disagrees with both. Not only that, even these groups are fighting among their selves. We are t>ld m fnl- low government policies, but it’s hard to know what its policy is. Mr. Publisher, 11>een think ing about this a tide lot and I think I’ve come up with a sim ple solution. Every time a poli tician talks in Washington, make him take a lie-detector test. W’e do this with criminals to see whether they’re lying or not. The answer is so simple I can’t see how cme nobody ever thought of it before. This test would tie given to all three branches of govern ment and the results would lie given to the people. This would not only expose lies, but it would tend to discourage liars from running for office. The inly pr Idem is we’d have a hard tim^ getting con gress t pass it into law, and if they did the president would vet" it, and if he didn’t the supreme court would declare it unconstitutional. So - we’re right luck where we started. My wife allowed as how it might !>e a good idea to start with the preachers. I told her she had got nuta politics and gone to meddling. Anyhow, Mr. Publisher, I throw the idea out for what it’s worth. If you’ve got any political influence I’d appreciate it if you’d follow-up on the idea. In the meantime if you’d like to reach me, I’ll be hiding in my basement. Yours truly, Parson Jones AN-American Dream