ObjectivesThis article aims to examine the different forms of exile introduced into addictive trajectories, notably because they may “meet up” and thus support the symbolic meaning of this experimental model. MethodIt is based on the results of an ethno-psychological survey in Languedoc-Roussillon with a population of heroin users and ex-users, and using essentially the collection and analysis of life narratives. ResultsApplication of the method allowed us to identify the centrality of a marginal test crossing during the addictive trip, such as the recurrence of pre-addictive situations of exile, of the subjects themselves, and not just about their families. DiscussionAlthough addictive behaviors have long been considered in terms of a strictly pathological intra-psychic dynamic, in recent years, they reveal more clearly their defensive potential, and compensatory, self-calming or self-therapeutic values. Also, they are often questioned in terms of the environmental issues involved. Socio-anthropological approaches may have contributed to this shift in point of view, soon followed by some cross-cultural psychological and cross-generational studies. The themes of travel and exile frequently emerge from these studies; whether socio-cultural functions specifically attached to this imaginary “travel and exile” associate with addictive practices; or whether the addictive symptom is considered from the subjective effects and trans-generational issues of migration. If these studies have considered some of these behaviours as attempts to resolve symptoms inherited from a family and cultural history, none is directly interested in the impact of experiences of exile on the addicted subjects themselves. ConclusionWe have therefore chosen to explore more precisely the different types of marginal experiences, which these subjects, both upstream and downstream of intoxication have experienced. Situations which we postulate could revive the pain of a more original exile, related to the experience of a primary separation, that the “addictive trip” could try to “treat”, or to substitute, paradoxically.