Operation Golden Flow
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Operation Golden Flow is an unofficial term that was coined during the Nixon era for the mandatory drug testing of all military service members returning from Vietnam War, a program that was headed by Jerome Jaffe, head of the White House drug office.[1]
In the late 1960s recreational drug use became popular among white middle class Americans. Drugs became representative of the counterculture movement that took place as the younger generation reacted to the conservatism of the generations before them. In the army, drugs did not only represent the era’s social rebellion; they also served as a method to artificially boost morale.[2]
Widespread marijuana use was the first drug epidemic to hit American soldiers, as the substance was easily acquired from Vietnamese villages. Although initially marijuana was tolerated by military superiors, in January 1968 an article published in the Washingtonian magazine about marijuana use by troops led the army to place heavy restrictions on marijuana. As a result, many officers turned to heroin as their drug of choice. [3]
When Richard Nixon was elected into office in 1969, Americans were becoming increasingly disillusioned towards the notion of the war, and, as a result, the country became deeply divided on the necessity and humanity of the war. This conflict impacted soldiers by diminishing their investment in the war, and thus they turned to drugs, particularly heroin, as a coping mechanism.
In 1970, Heroin began to enter Vietnam from Cambodia at an accelerated rate due to a Civil War in that country. By 1971, Vietnam soldiers developed an intense and widespread heroin addiction. According to one study done by The Pentagon, by 1973, up to 20% of soldiers in Vietnam used heroin habitually.[4]
In May 1971, Nixon declared a war on drugs, and announces the creation of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP), and in September 1971, operation golden flow goes into effect. [5]
