Differential Criminal Patterns of Narcotic Addicts Over an Addiction Career*

In a further study of the addiction‐crime relationship, 214 narcotic addicts were classified according to their criminal involvement during a 2‐year preaddiction period. The sample was divided into two groups—those who reported involvement in any of 20 categories of criminal activity (N = 108) and those who reported no such activity (N = 106). The criminal behavior and drug‐use patterns of the two groups were then compared during subsequent addiction and nonaddiction periods. As expected, the impact of addiction was much more prominent in the low‐crime group. The implications of results for rehabilitation strategies are discussed.