The project was set up by the Inner London Probation Service (ILPS) in partnership with a local health authority. The project managed to involve a group of offenders in treatment. A combination of methadone prescriptions and counseling enabled a number of them to reduce their drug-related offending. The project retained nearly three-quarters of the 46 offenders in treatment for more than six weeks. This resulted from a combination of factors, including: enhanced confidence among probation officers in working with drug misusers; swift referral and assessment; joint supervision by probation and drugs clinic staff; constructive use of urine analysis; counseling for substance misuse; and a free flow of information between the two agencies. Eight offenders managed to achieve complete detoxification within the 6-month treatment period. Footnotes, figures, tables, appendix, references, publications