ABSTRACT
One of the issues posed by the organizers of the conference on harm reduction, which generated this collection, was how to reach the ‘hidden sector’ of drug users – those neither in prison nor registered in treatment centres or other official agencies. Why is it important to study this less visible fraction of the drug-using population? As other contributors have pointed out, many drug users are satisfied with their lives for some time, and indeed, some do ‘retire early’ before developing serious problems. Clearly, not all drug roads lead to addiction.
