This rich ethnographic account of the experiences of 37 women who use methadone--heroin survivors whose lives continue to be controlled by methadone and by the clinics that dispense it--concentrates on women in Florida who grew up during the 1950s and 1960s. The authors explore the intersection of drug use and race, class, and gender oppression.

Their analysis suggests new ways to understand how women on heroin and methadone struggle to regain a sense of legitimacy and control in their lives. While methadone clinics offer a legal alternative to drugs, the authors show that the clinics also expect the medicated women to conform to traditional images of femininity. Nonetheless, they argue, the women still find ways to be creative and to challenge the systems that oppress them.