Heroin users are a stigmatized group of learners on the edge of society, whose struggle for recognition remains largely ignored. Drug treatment in the form of methadone and prescription drugs has only served to further stigmatize and disrespect their rights. Adult education aspires to be a discourse of resistance and a social movement for the creation of a diverse and just society. The work of Axel Honneth and his "Theory of Recognition" can help to advance those aspirations and radically shift our understanding of the drug user and the recovery process.