78TH CONG. , 2D SESS.-CH. 373-JULY 1,1944 hospital and to furnishing such transportation and gratuities shall be paid from the appropriation for the maintenance of such hospital except to the extent that other Federal agencies are authorized or required by law to pay the cost of such transportation: Provided, That where existing law vests a discretion in any officer as to the place to which transportation shall be furnished or as to the amount of clothing and gratuities to be furnished, such discretion shall be exer- cised by the Surgeon General with respect to addicts discharged from hospitals of the Service. VOLUNTARY PATIENTS SEC. 344. (a) Any addict, 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. (b) Any applicant shall be examined by the Surgeon General who shall determine whether the applicant is an addict, whether by treatment in a hospital of the Service he may probably be cured of his addiction, 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 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 convicted of offenses against the United States have been admitted. Any such addict may be required to pay for his subsistence, care, and treatment at rates fixed by the Surgeon Gen- eral 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. (c) Any addict admitted for treatment under this section, includ- ing any addict, 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 or until such time as he ceases to be an addict. (d) Any addict 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 com- mitment shall be confidential and shall not be divulged. PENALTIES SEO. 345. (a) Any person not authorized by law or by the Surgeon General who introduces or attempts to introduce into or upon the grounds of any hospital of the Service at which addicts are treated and cared for, any habit-forming narcotic drug, weapon, or any other contraband article or thing, or any contraband letter or message intended to be received by an inmate thereof, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprison- ment for not more than ten years. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person properly committed thereto to escape or attempt to escape from a hospital of the Service at which addicts are treated and cared for, and any such person upon appre- hension and conviction in a United States court shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years, such sentence to begin upon the expiration of the sentence for which such person was org- inally confined. Discretionarypower of Surgeon General. Application for ad- mission. Examination. Conditions of ad. mission. Payment of ot. Length of confine- ment. Preservation of rights. Contraband arti- eles. Escpas. 58 STAT.] 701
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