THE PRESENT REVIEW EXAMINES 175 RECENT ENGLISH-LANGUAGE WORKS WITH RESPECT TO 7 CATEGORIES: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES, PATTERNS OF DRUG USE AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, LIFE CYCLE CHARACTERISTICS, ECONOMIC ISSUES, TREATMENT EFFECTS, LITERATURE REVIEWS AND EDITED WORKS, AND OTHER LITERATURE. MOST OF THE LITERATURE CONCERNS PATTERNS OF DRUG USE AND CRIME; LIFE CYCLES IS THE LEAST COVERED TOPIC. AS A RESULT OF RECENT RESEARCH, DRUG USERS ARE NOT CONSIDERED TO BE A HOMOGENEOUS GROUP, ALL FOLLOWING THE SAME OR SIMILAR PATTERNS. IN THE AREA OF DRUG ADDICTION AND CRIME, ONE RECENT STUDY USED INTERVIEWS WITH 356 ACTIVE ADDICTS FROM MIAMI'S FREE COMMUNITY, TO OVERCOME BIAS RESULTING FROM STUDIES OF ARRESTEES. RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE 239 HEROIN USERS HAD COMMITTED AN AVERAGE OF 337 OFFENSES EACH. OTHER RECENT STUDIES HAVE FOCUSED ON THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OF FEMALE ADDICTS AND THE IMPORTANT FACTOR OF AGE. SEVERAL KEY AREAS NEEDING FURTHER RESEARCH INCLUDE LIFE CYCLES, COHORT EFFECTS, ADDICTS' DAILY ACTIVITIES, AND THE REPRESENTATIVENESS OF SAMPLES. FOOTNOTES, A TABLE, AN AUTHOR INDEX, AN EXTENSIVE REFERENCE LIST, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LITERATURE OF ABOUT 180 DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED SINCE 1975 ON DRUGS AND CRIME ARE PROVIDED. FOR RELATED REPORTS, SEE NCJ 65247, 66590, AND 66592. (CFW)