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This article presents a study on social characteristics of narcotic patients admitted to hospitals in Lexington, Kentucky in 1965. The U.S. Public Health Service maintains two psychiatric hospitals for the treatment of narcotic patients. The Lexington hospital was opened in 1935 and the Fort Worth hospital in Texas opened in 1938. There have been 90,645 admissions of some 50,400 addict patients from 1935 through 1965. The patients include both voluntary admissions and federal prisoners. Thus, the two institutions serve both as hospitals and as prisons. In 1965, 79 percent of the patients admitted were voluntary and 21 percent were federal prisoners. It has been estimated that there are 60,000 to 100,000 narcotic addicts in the U.S. at present. The estimate is based on the belief that most addicts become known to police or hospital authorities during the course of their addiction, due either to their illegal acts or their desire for medical treatment. A principal reason for considering narcotic drug addiction a social problem in the U.S. is the association between addiction and criminality. Related to this is the fact that most addicts are unable or unwilling to seek and maintain steady legitimate employment. Of 1,693 consecutive addict admissions to the Lexington hospital in 1965, 1,426 patients admitted to one or more arrests. The median age at time of first arrest was 18.4 years for the males and 20.8 years for the females. Commonly, arrest preceded first use of opiates. The median age at onset of opiate use among the 1,693 addicts was 20.0 years for the males and 22.6 years for the females. Of even greater significance than the sequence of arrest and opiate use found in the high delinquency slum areas from which addicts come is the means of livelihood addicts pursue. Thus, the association of narcotic addiction and criminality is such that many addicts are unable to secure legitimate work or are not interested in such employment.