A "frightfully high number" of American soldiers in Korea are victims of narcotics addiction, Cardinal Spellman said last night in his first public appearance since visiting the front.

He said Army physicians had told him of the problem. The Cardinal quoted them as saying that "the toll narcotics are taking on our boys" was regarded as "frightfully high percentagewise." He indicated that the cases of addiction had originated in the United States.

Cardinal Spellman, who returned to this country Jan. 19 after taking a trip around the world, spoke at the annual Club of Champions Dinner of the Catholic Youth Organization in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

"Those guilty of promoting the use of these habit-forming drugs are terribly guilty in the sight of God and country," he declared.

Questioned later for more details, the Cardinal said, "I am sorry but I do not have figures to give you on that subject." He said cases of narcotics addiction were non-existent during World War I and that the country must take action to reduce the problem "before it is too late."

The Cardinal presented the Catholic Youth Organization's nineteenth annual award to J. Willard Hayden, president of the Hayden Foundation.

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