Women constitute about one-third of the 450,553 admissions for drug treatment in the United States according to a 1988 report to the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors. From 1982 to 1991, the number of women arrested for drug offenses increased by 89 percent. A primary reason for the increase in the prison population of women has been the increase in drug-related convictions and mandatory sentencing for these convictions. A third of all the women reported they were under the influence of a drug at the time of their offense; 72 percent indicated they had used drugs at some time in their lives. A large percentage of jails and prisons fail to provide care for the medical and psychological problems of chemically dependent women. Improvements in drug treatment services require recognition of the increasing population of women offenders with drug problems and efforts to create and strengthen linkages among the various types of services provided to women offenders and between correctional and community-based treatment programs. 6 footnotes, 38 references, and 1 appendix