The study sample included 252 subjects who were selected from the Baltimore, Maryland, area and who were between 12 and 39 years of age at the onset of opiate addiction. The study sample also included 342 controls from the same neighborhood who were matched for age, race, and place of residence but who were free of opiate addiction. Ten risk factors in the five domains of family disruption, peer deviance, personal deviance, psychological symptoms, and lack of protective factors were studied. It was found addicts and non-addicts had different risk profiles comparing black and white people, while a significant differentiation was found for each race. White addicts scored significantly higher than black addicts on all risk factors, whereas black addicts scored significantly higher than white addicts on risk factors denoting peer school misbehavior and fighting, personal drug abuse, and behavioral deviance. The study has implications for the course and treatment of drug addiction, and findings suggest drug addiction is both a causal agent and a concomitant feature of a variety of problems. 37 references, 5 notes, 1 table, and 4 figures