The study population ranged in age from 21 to 35 years and involved 25 percent black and 25 percent white respondents. Personal and demographic characteristics of respondents were assessed. The average age at addiction was 20.4 years for blacks and 19.3 years for whites. Nearly half the respondents were unemployed before addiction. Only 14 of the 99 respondents had been continuously employed for 24 months or longer prior to addiction. The most frequent period of continuous employment varied between 7 and 12 months. About half of the 48 persons who quit their jobs did so of their own volition but for a wide variety of negative reasons. Since addiction usually occurred at a relatively early age, most drug addicts were unemployed before addiction or employed in unskilled jobs. Addiction did not preclude subsequent employment, however, and nearly 80 percent of the respondents engaged in gainful activity after addiction. The most frequently held jobs were in the structural category and were characterized by modest educational demands and physical labor. Formally learned job skills were generally not used, and few vocational rehabilitation services were used either before or after addiction. The transferability of drug addict lifestyles into socially acceptable occupations is discussed, and addiction is viewed as having both social and health dimensions. 5 references and 18 tables