IN THE SUMMER OF 1975, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO ASCERTAIN THE CURRENT CONDITION OF DELINQUENT OPIUM ADDICTS WHO HAD COMMITTED DRUG OFFENSES BETWEEN 1970 AND 1973. THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES SERVED TO CLASSIFY EACH OF THE OFFENDERS: (1) FREE OF DRUGS AND EMPLOYED; (2) FREE OF DRUGS, IN A THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY; (3) FREE OF DRUGS, UNEMPLOYED; (4) DEPENDENT ON SURROGATE DRUGS; (5) HOSPITALIZED; (6) IN PENAL CONFINEMENT; (7) ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE DRUG SCENE; AND (8) DECEASED. OF THE 58 PERSONS EXAMINED (43 MALE, 15 FEMALE, WITH AN AVERAGE AGE AT THE TIME OF EXAMINATION OF 21 YEARS), 23 WERE IN PENAL CONFINEMENT, 13 WERE AGAIN MEMBERS OF THE DRUG SCENE; 2 WERE DEPENDENT ON SURROGATE DRUGS; 1 WAS IN THE HOSPITAL; AND 3 HAD DIED. OF THE 16 MEMBERS OF THE SAMPLE POPULATION WHO HAD OVERCOME THEIR DEPENDENCY ON DRUGS, 4 WERE UNEMPLOYED, 2 WERE LIVING IN THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES, AND THE REMAINING 10 WERE REINTEGRATED INTO OCCUPATIONS OR TRAINING PROGRAMS. BECAUSE OF ITS LIMITED SCOPE, THE STUDY DID NOT WARRANT A FINAL CONCLUSION OR DEFINITE EVALUATION OF TREATMENT METHODS. HOWEVER, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CASES INDICATED THAT THE TRANSITION FROM CONFINEMENT TO OPEN SOCIETY IN A CRUCIAL PHASE IN TERMS OF RECIDIVISM. PENAL MEASURES WHERE PREDOMINANTLY EFFECTIVE IN THOSE CASES WHERE THE DELINQUENTS WERE SUBJECTED TO INTENSIVE EXPERT DIAGNOSIS, THERAPEUTIC CARE AND VOCATIONAL COUNSELING AT THE BEGINNING, DURING AND AFTER THEIR RESPECTIVE PERIODS OF CONFINEMENT. GRAPHS ILLUSTRATE THE FINDINGS AND A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS RELEVANT RESEARCH STUDIES. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)