Dealing with the drug problem.

The disease and disability toll of drug use and certain features of current national drug use/abuse policy produce serious negative outcomes for the health and welfare of the United States and its people. Therefore, national drug policy should be the subject of serious review. Neither the central focus of present policy, the "Drug War," nor what is usually presented as the only alternative to this policy, "legalization," effectively deal with the U.S. drug use/abuse problem. In this commentary, we first examine the nature of the total drug problem. Then, an analysis of its causes is presented, followed by a discussion of present policy and how it does or does not address both the problem and its causes. Finally, a proposed new approach to the drug problem, based on well-known public health principles, is offered.