The federal prison system of the United States has made repeated efforts to treat drug-abusing prisoners. The issue was first raised in 1928 by the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He reported that the three then-existing federal penitentiaries—Atlanta, Leavenworth, and McNeil Island—held 7,598 prisoners, 1,559 of whom were "drug addicts." To deal with these prisoners he called for a "broad and constructive program in combatting the drug evil," and he recommended the establishment of special federal "narcotics farms" for the "individualized treatment" of drug-abusing prisoners. He hoped that there would become institutions that "will reduce and also prevent crime… and greatly alleviate the suffering of those who have become addicted."