A 7 years follow-up of young drug addicts participants in an Italian therapeutic community [follow-up s'etendant sur sept annees des jeunes toxicomanes apres traitement en une communaute therapeutique italienne]

First month dropouts (N = 49) and selfterminators (N = 89 with a 7.3 month average stay) of residential heroine addicts population of italian therapeutic community 'Cascina Verde' were interviewed until 7 years after treatment. Considering as success the individual's change life-style (that is drug-free, no access to methadone maintenance, no antisocial behavior or, at most, reentry into therapeutic community), it is shown that the percentage of such a success for selfterminators was 60% and was about 3 times larger than in dropouts for each year and for the entire period considered. The percentage of success was strictly related to length of time spent in treatment