DRUG WARS

Locking up low-level drug dealers and users has led to many victories in
the war against crime. Perhaps it's time to adopt another strategy as well
- - rehabilitation.

Business Week magazine reports a recent examination of data on 3,500
inner-city drug users entering rehabilitation found that treating them
reduced the crimes they committed by 51 percent.

Rehabilitation is cost efficient, too. The annual cost of methadone
treatment of heroin addiction is $3,000. That's a lot less than the $23,000
it costs to keep an inmate in jail for a year.