The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of criminal justice involvement and its association with unmet healthcare needs among African American women who use illicit drugs. Previous research has determined that there are significant disparities in health and healthcare which disadvantage African American women. However, the role that criminal justice involvement plays in contributing to or reducing these disparities is largely unexplored. The health-related needs of criminal justice involved women appear to be distinct from those of the men, who make up the majority of the criminal justice population. The specific aims are: (1) to characterize the range and accumulation of criminal justice involvement (no involvement, arrest, community supervision, incarceration) in a community-based sample of African American women who use illicit drugs and (2) to examine the association of unmet healthcare needs with the range and accumulation of criminal justice involvement, while controlling for predisposing, enabling/impeding and need factors.