The presented research focuses on the help that is offered to drug addicts (of legal and illegal drugs) and to their relatives in a region of about 130000 inhabitants. Starting out from an ideal model of community orientated help all known institutions and initiatives that are engaged in drug help (self-help groups, institutions of inpatient and outpatient care, after-care organizations) have been surveyed with regard to their specific capacity and their degree of mutual cooperation and coordination. A standardized questionnaire has been constructed to implement the survey, supported by interviews with experts. The results show, that the established structure of help focuses mainly on the specific group of male addicts capable of cooperating and showing a relatively high social integration, that is addicts with a good prognosis. A serious lack of help was discovered for those who do not fulfil the described criteria, especially for longterm addicts, addicts with an additional psychiatric disease, addicts under the age of 28 and over 55, women and in general those who are addicted to illegal drugs.