Drug careers in perspective

This paper reports the results of a 10-year follow-up of a pioneer group of 36 opiate addicts treated at a detoxification unit at St Lars Hospital in Lund in the years 1971-72. Sixteen of them are now ex-addicts. Their way out of addiction is described. The results show that there exists a turning process during which some kind of therapeutic action could be of considerable value. The ex-addicts go through a period in which they show signs of an identity conflict. During this period women seem more inclined to relapse than men. This stresses the importance of long-term therapeutic strategies.