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James W. Wiggs, MD
Yankton, SD

JAMA. 1992;268(17):2376.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—I read the article by Johnson et al¹ with interest. At least 75% of street crime is accounted for by drug abusers. The average drug abuser steals to maintain his or her habit, and the amount stolen or damaged ranges from $100 000 to $1 000 000 per year per drug abuser. A prison bed costs society about $35 000 per year.

Drug abuse was elevated by the media to the status of a social protest in the 1960s and 1970s, but serious studies in the early 1970s confirmed that it was simply hedonism: people took drugs because they liked the way drugs made them feel. The vast majority of drug abusers, therefore, are sociopaths with no allegiance to anyone and very little ability to learn from experience or to postpone gratification.

With all of this in mind, 162 volunteers "seeking treatment for opioid dependence at . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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