§260. Addicts and persons with drug abuse or drug dependence problems

(a) Application for admission

Any addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem, whether or not he shall have been convicted of an offense against the United States, may apply to the Surgeon General for admission to a hospital of the Service especially equipped for the accommodation of addicts or other persons with drug abuse and drug dependence problems.

(b) Determination of addiction; conditions of admission; payment of subsistence, care, and treatment

Any applicant shall be examined by the Surgeon General who shall determine whether the applicant is an addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem, whether by treatment in a hospital of the Service he may probably be cured of his addiction, drug abuse, or drug dependence, and the estimated length of time necessary to effect his cure. The Surgeon General may, in his discretion, admit the applicant to a Service hospital. No such addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem shall be admitted unless he agrees to submit to treatment for the maximum amount of time estimated by the Surgeon General to be necessary to effect a cure, and unless suitable accommodations are available after all eligible addicts or other persons with drug abuse and drug dependence problems convicted of offenses against the United States have been admitted. Any such addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem may be required to pay for his subsistence, care, and treatment at rates fixed by the Surgeon General and amounts so paid shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the appropriation from which the expenditure for his subsistence, care, and treatment was made. Appropriations available for the care and treatment of addicts or other persons with drug abuse and drug dependence problems admitted to a hospital of the Service under this section shall be available, subject to regulations, for paying the cost of transportation to any place within the continental United States, including subsistence allowance while traveling, for any indigent addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem who is discharged as cured.

(c) Period of confinement

Any addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem admitted for treatment under this section, including any addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem, not convicted of an offense, who voluntarily submits himself for treatment, may be confined in a hospital of the Service for a period not exceeding the maximum amount of time estimated by the Surgeon General as necessary to effect a cure of the addiction, drug abuse, or drug dependence or until such time as he ceases to be an addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem.

(d) Other rights unaffected

Any addict or other person with a drug abuse or other drug dependence problem admitted for treatment under this section shall not thereby forfeit or abridge any of his rights as a citizen of the United States; nor shall such admission or treatment be used against him in any proceeding in any court; and the record of his voluntary commitment shall, except as otherwise provided by this chapter, be confidential and shall not be divulged.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, §344, 58 Stat. 701 ; June 25, 1948, ch. 654, §5, 62 Stat. 1018 ; July 24, 1956, ch. 676, title III, §302(b), 70 Stat. 622 ; Pub. L. 91–513, title I, §2(a)(2)(A), (3), (4), Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1240 .)

Amendments

1970-Pub. L. 91–513 extended coverage of section to cover drug abuse or drug dependence and to cover persons with drug abuse or drug dependence problems.

1956-Subsec. (d). Act July 24, 1956, substituted "shall, except as otherwise provided by this chapter, be confidential" for "shall be confidential".

1948-Subsec. (b). Act June 25, 1948, inserted sentence at end to continue authority to provide transportation for indigent narcotics who are discharged as cured.

Transfer of Functions

Functions of Public Health Service, Surgeon General of Public Health Service, and all other officers and employees of Public Health Service, and functions of all agencies of or in Public Health Service transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610, set out as a note under section 202 of this title. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare redesignated Secretary of Health and Human Services by section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.