To the Editor: In 1954 President Nasser and his government, after assuming power in Egypt, ordered a strict enforcement of the laws banning the usage of hashish in that country. At the same time, they directed a committee of scholars to perform an in-depth study of the effects of hashish consumption on the Egyptian population. This "psychosocial" study has been conducted since 1957 by the National Center for Social and Criminological Research in Cairo. Reports presenting the findings of this study have been published regularly since 1962. A summary of these findings has also been published in English by Soueif. . . .