The basis of the study was a comparison between two samples of regular drug users; one was currently seeking help; the other had not sought help in the past year; most had never been in treatment. Key findings included: (1) the decision to seek help was not simply a function of the severity of the drug problem or the length of the drug using career; (2) help seeking was often followed, in the short term at least, by changes beneficial both to clients and to society; (3) drug users are neither a homogeneous nor an inherently irrational population; and (4) there should be a softening of the boundaries between "gateway" or frontline services and drug users, and greater attention to harnessing the informal support systems and control strategies found in the drug using community.