[The effectiveness of the criminal justice system in cases of opiate addiction (author's transl)].

On the 63 deliquent youth drug addicts examined by the author as a court-appointed expert during the years 1970-1973, an attempt was made in the summer of 1975 to ascertain their actual current condition. This was indeed possible with 58 of the subjects in question (43 male, 15 female--average age at the time of examination.: 21). On the day the sample was taken (August 15, 1975) 23 of them were in penal confinement, 13 had again become dependent on illegal opiates, 2 were dependent on surrogate drugs, and 1 person was in the hospital. 3 members of the sample population who had overcome their dependency on drugs, 4 were unemployed, 2 were living in therapeutic communities and the remaining 10 were either re-integrated into occupations or training programs. A comparative analysis of the cases indicates that penal care measures are predominantly effective in those cases where the delinquents are subjected to intensive expert diagnosis, therapeutic care and vocational counselling and vocational aidmeasures at the commencement, during and subsequent to their respective periods of confinement.