Interviews with female drug abusers, primarily women imprisoned or on parole, indicate that woman must have genuine self-esteem if she is to transcend the social conditions or resolve the personal problems that feed her addiction. Addiction is the ultimate expression of dependency, and a 'proper' woman has been groomed for dependency. The proliferation of self-help drug groups is a hopeful sign, since persons must band together to assume responsibility for the causes and consequences of addiction. The most effective self-help groups, Alcoholics Anonymous being the most notable, place responsibility on the individual addict to make choices that will benefit themselves. Attempts to rescue or protect an addict are futile and may only reinforce the dependent addictive patterns. Social stigma and law enforcement interfere with a person's ability to make clear judgments about drug use, since the stigmatization of a person as a criminal and the fostering of his/her alienation from the community only further lowers self-esteem and increases a person's inability to assume constructive control of his/her life. Diversion programs are the most encouraging criminal justice approach to addressing drug abuse, but such programs will be effective only to the extent that participation is voluntary. The answer to drug addiction is the creation of socioeconomic conditions that affirm and nurture the worth of persons in interaction with others and in the control of events so as to achieve pleasurable and fulfilling experiences. Drug abuse occurs when persons lose or never gain life satisfactions under their natural powers, such that they feel powerless to find fulfillment without the effects of drugs, whether they be legal or illegal. About 42 bibliographic listings are provided.