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Abstract
This preliminary report from an epidemiological study of heroin addiction in Tucson, Arizona, 1956-1976, examines the status of heroin addicts 20 years after they have been identified as narcotics abusers, focusing on the maturation hypothesis which holds that heroin addicts tend to cease use of narcotics spontaneously by age forty.
A cohort of 51 subjects was identified from Public Records of Court Appearances for narcotic offenses during a 36-month period (1955-1957), located and, where possible, interviewed. Records from a minimum of two agencies (law enforcement, corrections, treatment, welfare) were used to establish current status of the individual with reference to the use of narcotics and/or other drugs. Demographic, ethnic, socioeconomic makeup of the sample, as well as criminal involvement and treatment episodes, is included.
After 20 years, one individual is drug-free or abstinent. Twenty-three are considered still addicted to heroin, 16 of these are in prison; seven are addicted to methadone or alcohol. Thirteen are dead. Six could not be located; however, five could be traced well beyond 1956 through criminal activities. All but one person have passed their fortieth birthdays. For these 51 addicts, the maturation hypothesis does not hold.